Frankenstein Society: Animal Use in Science

Oct 28, 2019

"People can be monsters. Whether it's just their actions, or whether it's who they really are, it doesn't matter. The result is the same."
-Neal & Jarrod Shusterman,
Dry

Why Do We Use Animals?

Animal use in science began centuries ago as early scientists and medicine practitioners experimented on animals.[1] One of the earliest humans to begin experimentations was Aristotle, who believed that animals did not feel pain; he began animal research after public outcry at vivisection conducted on human criminals.[2] This was done to better understand human anatomy and physiology, as well as further advance medical and medicinal knowledge.[1] Today, more than 2,000 years later, the excuses are basically the same, except our society is exceptionally more advanced and knowledgeable of animal sentience and the impact of animal experimentation.

Personally, my question of "why?" is a bit more philosophical. Saying it's for scientific education or medical advancements may answer the fundamental "why," but it does not acknowledge the deeper meaning. This is my "why": Why do humans have this insatiable desire to know everything? Why do we crave knowledge? Why do we crave the power the knowledge provides us? Why can't we be happy simply by existing? Why do we always need more, want to learn more, want to know more than anyone or anything else? For if we weren't so power-hungry for knowledge, our nonhuman brethren would be spared such brutal fates.

How Do We Use Animals?

Scientific Research

Studies using animals have become so commonplace that we barely even notice them. Let me pull a few examples from one of my recent reads, What a Fish Knows by Dr. Jonathan Balcombe, a truly extraordinary read reinforcing my adoration for and admiration of aquatic animals. Unfortunately, most of what we know about fishes comes from studies on them. For instance, scientists in 2010 discovered that ambon damselfishes and lemon damselfishes, though of the same species, have differing "facial patterns visible only in the UV light spectrum." These damselfishes can recognize one another, whether they be ambon or lemon, because they can see UV light. While this is amazing to know that some fishes can do this, why do we, humans, care? Is it worth it to subject animals to these kinds of tests, something we surely wouldn't want to be subjected to against our will, just for us to understand more about animal behavior, psychology, relationships, etc.[3]

Maybe you think I'm overreacting (though I should note that animals in experiments are often killed after use). After all, that damselfish study sounded pretty tame. Let's look at another example. A doctor by the name of Karl von Frisch had a captive catfish, named Xaverl, whom he intentionally blinded by removing his eyes. All so he could conduct a Pavlovian study to see if fishes, like dogs, also respond to classical conditioning. The study was exactly the same: make sound, provide food. He found that his fish recognized the sound and associated it with being fed.[3] And if you think that this happened in the 1930s but we've "evolved" since then, I sincerely wish that were true. However, there are still many other ways, and on a grander scale, in which we exploit animals today, as we'll soon see.

Animal Testing

There are myriad tests performed on animals for the sake of creating products for human consumption. You can read more about the specifics from the American Anti-Vivisection Society's "animal testing" section on their website, which you can find here. These studies are done on nonhumans for human products ranging from makeup to laundry detergent to pesticides. I remember learning that Raid (y'know, a product designed specifically to kill animals?) tests on animals. What kind of sick experiments are they conducting for that? I just imagine them spraying it on a little family of mice, the scientists with their clipboards watching and diligently taking notes as the mice writhe in agony while the Raid does its work destroying them.

It's interesting how certain facts or stories stick with you better than others, and this is one that's stuck with me. There were (and are) many experiments on tampons to test their effectiveness and reduce the likelihood of toxic shock syndrome occurring. One of these studies was conducted by cutting open rabbits' necks and stuffing in tampons.[4] This, along with poor Xaverl, is why I called this post "Frankenstein Society." These experiments are sick, barbaric, and inhumane—inhuman. It's unnatural. We're playing God, toying around with actual lives as if they're worthless, and eventually that's going to come back around. We will pay for all the suffering we've committed against the innocent.

Dissection

In seventh grade, I dissected a frog. Why? I don't know; I guess you'd have to ask the state of New Jersey why a twelve-year-old needed that knowledge. Maybe I could understand the excuse of medical students in colleges doing that as part of their studies, but children? It's ludicrous. Either way, there are so many alternatives to dissection, like looking at a diagram in a book, virtual dissections conducted online, or human cadaver dissections for serious medical students. With all the other options, why are millions of animals being ripped from the wild and killed every year just so people can look at their insides? Honestly, there are certain things in this world that I simply can't wrap my head around, and animal dissection is one of them.[5]

What Animals Are Used?

Mice are most commonly used in animal experiments, but there are almost no species not used. Rats, dogs, cats, fishes, frogs, monkeys, rabbits, pigs, and more.[6] When it comes to animal behavior studies, like the aforementioned damselfishes, there is even more diversity of species: birds, dolphins, tigers, elephants, etc. No animals are safe. Oh, except humans, of course.

Is Animal Testing Useful?

The short answer is "no," though there have been medical advances attributed to animal experiments. However, as many as 95% of products that pass animal testing standards fail when it comes to human trials.[7] At the end of the day, no matter how many tests or studies or experiments you conduct, humans are different from rats, chimpanzees, dogs, rabbits, fishes, and every other species used. We all react differently to different chemicals and concoctions, and it's silly to think that we need to act so terribly, "like animals," to live the way we do.[8]

What Can You Do?

Thankfully, the answer to this is quite simple: buy cruelty-free vegan products. This means there is no animal testing and are no animal products used to create them. You don't have to worry about acid being dripped into cats' eyes or noxious fluids poured down bunnies' throats when you buy these products. Check out Leaping Bunny for a definitive list of cruelty-free companies and PETA's cruelty-free database (both also have apps: Cruelty-Free and Bunny Free, respectively). Make sure to check out (and support, if you can) Beagle Freedom Project and the American Anti-Vivisection Society, nonprofits dedicated to getting animals out of labs right now and in the future.