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Loading...More Than 200,000 Animals Used in UBC Experiments in 2010
In a move that took courage, the University of British Columbia recently released data on animal research. The numbers on the site, “The Role of Animals in Research,” are staggering. Each of the bold headings below is a statistic from the UBC SITE.
Animals involved in UBC research in 2010: 211,764
That number is a small percentage of the total used in testing, representing only one university. During that same year, another 3.7 million scientific experiments were carried out on animals in Great Britain.
I give UBC credit for courage because they would have known how appalling that number would be for people concerned about animal welfare. In explaining why animal research is essential, they state:
Medical milestones such as antibiotics, anesthetics, heart valve replacements and vaccines to prevent rabies in companion animals have all involved animal research. Since 1901, almost every Nobel Prize in Medicine has been awarded for innovations dependent on data from animal models. Also, new medicines and treatment must be evaluated in a living organism before being given to humans, according to federal government requirements.
At UBC, animal research is a privilege to be used only when no alternative is possible. It’s true that non-animal techniques, such as cell cultures and computer simulations, are important. However, these methods cannot yet mirror the complicated and sometimes unpredictable processes of a living system.
UBC has adopted “the 3Rs principles of animal use.” That means they try to Reduce the number of animals used in testing by Refining their procedures and Replacing live creatures with non-animal methods wherever possible.
Read more: animal cruelty, animal rights, animal testing, animal welfare, animals, vivisection
Frog photo from Muhammad Mahdi Karim via Wikimedia Commons; Rescued lab rats photo from SMercury98 via Flickr Creative Commons; Lizard eye photo from Clicksy via Flickr Creative Commons; Monkey photo from Alex Pacheco of PETA (1981) via Wikimedia Commons
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+ add your own“All of the arguments to prove man's superiority cannot shatter this hard fact: in suffering, the animals are our equals”.
-Peter Singer
This is the year 2012. We have stem cells now. HUMAN stem cells! Use them, and join the rest of us in the 21st century and leave animals out of our HUMAN health care system!!!
In the 20th century we have less cruel means to conduct testing, don't we? Why keep using medieval torture methods - we don't "tar and feather" anyone anymore either, do we?
i could not watch nor read these,
just sent a message to STOP
I couldn't watch the video either, Jane--just reading about it mad me sick, disgusted and sad.
I think they keep saying "this research will help human quality of life or extend human life" because they seek to justify their own sick, cruel tendencies. I don't want to increase my quality of life or extend my life on the bones of animals who were tortured and murdered.
Very informative but it needs to get out to a wider audience because it's only like minded people that will be reading these articles and watching these videos.
There are several examples of the after-effects of radiation.
No such experiments are necessary !
Do these laboratories just get a kick out of being cruel to justify their existance?
Humans have different physiological characteristics than animals.
Human/man-made models are more effective for the purpose of research than testing on live animals. It's been proven time and time again.
The vast majority of animal research funded is an abject failure; a waste of time, money
and most tragically, lives.
Animals are tortured and abused world wide to keep researchers working and labs operating.
It's all about money; far from being about perpetuating the health and wellness of humanity.
If we truly cared about human health, we would take into consideration the value and the worth of other sentient beings.
Human ignorance, cruelty, arrogance and apathy will be the downfall of the human species.
We cannot continue to destroy other without destroying ourselves. Period.
Animals are not ours to use in research or test on.
UBC must know that ALWAYS is possible a cruelty free alternative to animal research, they should stop excuses and leave all animals alone!
When the human species stops torturing animals they will stop torturing each other. The one is directly related to the other.
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