5th November, 2016

Letter to the Next President

Dear Future President,

Animal abuse is a serious problem in America, one that your predecessors have failed to acknowledge, but I implore you to listen to the cries of the animals, the cries that for decades have gone unheard. Animal testing, a form animal cruelty, has been overlooked by so many. We humans do not seem to care about what goes on behind the curtain as long as it doesn’t affect us directly. We do not stop to think, how did scientists get the cure for influenza, as we sit in the doctor's office dreading the shot that we get every year. We do not wonder who tested the newest shade of lipstick to make sure it was safe for human use. We probably don’t even care about what happened to the animal that was forced to test the newest cosmetic. No, we humans do not care; but as president it is your job to make us care, to set us on the right course, to stand up for those that can’t stand up for themselves. It is your job to put a stop to animal testing.

I’m sure you have heard of animal testing before; animal testing or animal experimentation is the process of using animals to test the safety of products for human use. Animal testing is a cruel and torturous process for the animals. They are infected with disease, stabbed with needles, and shoved into tiny cages. The Journal of Trauma and Dissociation in 2008, found that chimpanzees used in animal testing were later diagnosed with PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder). Not only does this prove that the animals were abused during the testing, but it also proves that chimps can feel pain and emotions just as humans do. Would you put your children in a cage and have them tested, just so we could make sure cosmetics are safe to use? Animals can feel pain just as we do, animal testing is unethical, it’s cruel, and disgusting.

Animal testing is not a good way to predict how humans will react. In the article Zika Response Should Not Include Animal Experiments, Kathy Guillermo states, “Animal rarely have the same diseases humans do, and when they do their bodies react differently from ours.” Correspondingly animal science is not even always correct. “Animal models often fail to provide good ways to mimic disease or predict how drugs will work in humans, resulting in much wasted time and money while patients wait for therapies,” the National Institute of Health confirms. In a study at the University of Wisconsin monkeys were infected with the Zika virus, the monkeys and their babies weren’t affected at all, but the women seemed to be affected at all stages of pregnancy. This highlights just one way in which Animals are not a reliable way to test the safety of products or to find cures for humans. Animals don’t react to diseases or to chemicals like humans do, so why would we use them to test the safety of products?t really does not make any sense.

Furthermore animal testing is cruel. The article Animal Testing Is Cruel and Immoral Regardless of the Benefits Associated With It by George Wright and Steve Hoagland states, “There are many examples of humans taking advantage of their ability to dominate other species.” Some of the scientists at research labs are disgusting, torturing the animals for their own amusement, or just for the thrill of being in control. The animals are subjected to torture, not for the sake of science, but for the pleasure of their captors. For example, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania were found to be smashing hydraulic equipment into monkeys’ heads, causing severe brain damage.

Animal testing is animal abuse hiding behind the name of science. Animal testing is pointless, it doesn’t to show anything about the human body or how the human body will react to certain substances. If you allow animal testing to continue, you will be allowing hundreds, if not thousands of poor innocent animals to be slaughtered. These animals are not simply killed, they are tortured.. Diseases like cancer, leukemia, even ebola are injected into these poor animals. If you allow animal testing to go on you will be responsible for the deaths of thousands of creatures. Maybe you had a favorite pet as a child, a dog or cat; imagine having the animal taken from you, imagine seeing it shiver inside a cage, imagine it yelping and barking, staring at you with big scared eyes as scientists bare down on it with needles and knives, while you just stand there, not able to do anything. That is what's happening to thousands of animals across America today. These animals are scared for their lives, and if you don’t do something to stop it, thousands more will have the same fate. If you don’t stop it, the cries of the animal will go on unheard; they are the silent victims of America’s lust for knowledge.

Sincerely,

Jordan

Works Cited Page

“Animal Experimentation.” Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, Detroit, 2016,Opposing Viewpoints in Context, ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/referencedetailspage/referencedetailswindow?disablehighlighting=true&displaygroupname=reference&currpage=&scanid=&query=&search_within_results=&p=ovic&mode=view&catid=gale|00000000lvv7&limiter=&display-query=&displaygroups=&contentmodules=&action=e&sortby=&documentid=gale|pc3010999220&windowstate=normal&activitytype=&failovertype=&commentary=&source=bookmark&u=cort85574&jsid=342a1d505b688aa019f38bcd0a105ae5.

Guillermo, Kathy. “Zika Response Should Not Include Animal Experiments.” People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, 28 July 2016, p. n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher, sks.sirs.com

Wright, George, and Steve Hoagland. “Counterpoint: Animal Testing Is Cruel and Immoral Regardless of the Benefits Associated With It.” Points of View: Animal Experimentation, Mar. 2016, p. 3. Points of View Reference Center, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&an=23236881&site=pov-live&authtype=cookie,ip,custuid&custid=infohio.