Animal Experimentation is the use of non-human animals in experiments. Several organizations estimate that 100 million vertebrate animals (those with backbones) are experimented on globally per year; this number does not include invertebrates (those without backbones), like insects, which make up the majority of test subjects.
There are laws which regulate the usage of animals. One of these laws in the United States is the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). According to the National Agricultural Library of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) @ http://www.aphis.usda.gov,
- The AWA requires that minimum standards of care and treatment be provided for certain animals bred for commercial sale, used in research, transported commercially, or exhibited to the public. Individuals who operate facilities in these categories must provide their animals with adequate care and treatment in the areas of housing, handling, sanitation, nutrition, water, veterinary care, and protection from extreme weather and temperatures.
Interestingly, only warm-blooded animals are covered in this act. Cold-blooded animals like reptiles, insects or fish are not included in the AWA.
Our class confronted the controversy of animal experimentation during the final science fair experiment when they investigated previously-tested variables (like type of liquid or amount of acidity) on animals. The earlier experiments focused on plants and tried to discover a way to ensure maximum plant growth. The idea was to increase plant growth while minimizing environmental impacts. [For example, fertilizer increases plant growth but when it washes into nearby ponds, lakes, or other aquatic environments, it starts a process known as Eutrophication. Eutrophication leads to the death of some aquatic organisms and the disruption of food chains.] Some students wanted to know if their variables would also impact animals, like fish or insects. Other students were uncomfortable with this idea. Some parents did not give permission; they did not see the value in causing "certain" death during experiments. Ultimately, most students decided to test their variables on different species of plants. A minority of students decided to test on worms, insects and small bait fish.
Many questions remain. Should students be allowed to experiment on animals? What factors must be considered when conducting experiments on animals? Please leave your thoughts and questions below. Feel free to include links, videos and pictures but explain and acknowledge sources for visuals and videos.
Image source of rat: http://visualsonline.cancer.gov/details.cfm?imageid=2568
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