Testing on Mice and Rats

     It is no secret that animal testing can be a brutal process. Animals are put through significant torture in order to better the lives of humans (or other animals, in some cases). They are often genetically modified to be born with significant defects or diseases, injected with harmful substances, burned, shocked, and killed. Experimentation on animals has allowed huge medical breakthroughs to occur that have saved the lives of many humans. However, experimentation on animals has also been extremely overused, especially within the area of cosmetics. In my opinion and the opinions of many of my classmates, the world already has enough varieties of shampoo, mascara, and hairspray. There is absolutely no reason animal testing should continue for products no one truly needs, and there are other viable options for testing (such as using donated human corneas, computer-modeled techniques, or human volunteers). Even within the medical settings, animal testing is extremely overused. Animals should not have to be put through immense torture and suffering so another allergy medicine with one small alteration can be created, or so that one brand can master a drug that another brand already has.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2e/Vacanti_mouse.jpg

     Within the United States alone, over one million animals are used for research per year. This number is shocking in itself; however, something more shocking is that this number excludes all mice, rats, and select other animals. An estimation of the number of mice and rats used in experiments per year within the U.S. alone is over 100 million (http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/animals-used-experimentation-factsheets/animal-experiments-overview/). The reason these animals are not regulated? According to Congress, specific species of mice and rats are not considered animals. Mice and rats are not protected under the Animal Welfare Act, which helps regulate the treatment of animals used in experimentation to some extent. Something even more shocking than the number of mice used in experiments is that, for every one mouse used in certain research, another ninety-nine will be killed because of low success in creating certain strains of mice (Hal Herzog's "Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat").

     Far too many animals are used in animal experimentation. These animals feel emotions, experience pain, and need attention and proper treatment. They are more like us than many researchers and supporters of animal testing choose to believe. They are also much less like us than many researchers claim in ways important to research; genetically, many animals used in testing offer very unreliable results as to how certain drugs and cosmetics will affect humans. Experimenting on animals, while it has resulted in some important discoveries, is not as necessary as we are led to believe. So many animals are tortured and killed for our benefit, but are we benefitting to such a large extent where brutality toward animals is justified? I think not.
     Slow but positive change is occurring. Politicians are beginning to take a stand against animal testing. This movement has not been extremely popular within Congress yet, but it is starting. For example, one politician is asking for greater regulation of mice and rats within research (http://www.peta.org/blog/congress-member-takes-action-for-mice-and-rats-in-laboratories/). Additionally, animal rights supporters actively boycott animal testing by their words and actions. Something you can do to stand against animal research is buying products from companies that do not animal test. Google is a valuable tool in finding these companies, as well as listing companies that do animal test. The following picture shows some popular companies that animal test. Most likely, you use products from some of these companies. However, there are many natural alternatives to using these products that support the lives of animals.

http://www.peta.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/nTUy1Cq2cI1Y_9_GKdOEQU3Up394YML2Kyb94Of4Qfg.jpg   

Information about mice and rats in research: http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/animals-laboratories/mice-rats-laboratories/

Health Risks of Factory Farming

     Factory farming is detrimental to health of everyone involved. Animals, workers, consumers of meat, people who live near the farms... All are at risk for many harmful effects. 

     Beginning with animals. The internet is filled with undercover videos, many of them bloody and brutal. Here is a link to several videos revealing how factory farms treat their animals: http://www.mercyforanimals.org/investigations. To put in simply, all animals in factory farms (chickens, cows, pigs, goats, sheep, turkeys, etc.) are treated in the most inhumane ways possible. Lack of sanitation, minimal space to move, forced rapid growth, and immediate removal of newborn animals are just a few of the injustices that occur within factory farms. Violence is often used toward these animals, as they are seen as having no rights. Many companies refuse to discuss the methods used to raise, collect, and slaughter the animals, so undercover film is necessary. A large amount of animals obtain health problems, including obesity, cardiovascular complications, leg damage, chronic pain from debeaking,  tail docking, and castration, and more. 

     Workers are treated cruelly as well. They are constantly in the unsanitary conditions of the factory farms, breathing ammonia-filled air even through their special masks. The machinery used, and constantly dealing with animals, often cause injury. Infections are common (Food Inc. describes infections that often occur in the fingernails of workers). Many factory farms hire illegal immigrants or people desperate for work, but care little about their health and see them as disposable. 

http://www.ourhenhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Screen-Shot-2013-04-11-at-10.13.28-AM-353x210.png

     Meat produced in factory farms is unhealthy on many levels for consumers. Meats contain high levels of fat, which is unhealthy in large amounts. Because the animals in factory farms are loaded with unnecessary antibiotics that breed resistant bacteria, humans are more likely to become sick with strains of antibiotic-resistant infections. The meats themselves from diseased animals can spread disease like Swine Flu to humans. Over 55% of uncooked chickens in supermarkets contain arsenic, toxic to humans and animals. Meat has been proven to cause certain kinds of cancer. There are countless harmful effects of factory farm meat, and some of these as well as greater elaboration of previously mentioned effects are listed on this very informational website: http://www.farmsanctuary.org/learn/factory-farming/factory-farming-and-human-health/. 

 

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     The waste produced by factory farms is horrible for the environment and for neighboring communities. Tons of manure are produced per day, which pollutes the environment and makes people sick. According to the website listed above, residents of communities next to factory farms have higher rates of respiratory, neurobehavioral, and mental illnesses. 

     For more information about factory farming and health, visit PETA's page, http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/health-risks-meat-industry/. Because factory farming causes so many risks to health to all people and animals involved, I suggest you take action against factory farming. Some options are buying fewer products contributed to by factory farms, buying locally-raised meat, raising awareness about the horrors of factory farms, protesting to the government, and pleading for more laws to be passed. Even the smallest actions can make a difference. 

Dog Meat – Cultural Taboos and Yulin

     The consumption of dog meat has been a widely debated topic in 2015. Many people, especially in Western cultures, wonder how someone could eat a dog, which is commonly seen as a pet worldwide. I know I could never eat dog meat. However, I understand that eating dog meat has been a part of some Asian cultures, especially in China, for centuries. While the idea of eating a dog is repulsive to me, eating meat of a cow is repulsive to others, like Hindus. All cultures have taboos for certain types of meat. Why is not always clear, but these taboos have existed for a very long time.

            

     Why is it acceptable to me to eat cows and pigs, acceptable to others to eat cockroaches, and acceptable to some to eat dogs? All of these creatures are edible. Culture has shaped our perceptions.

     Chinese history has had changing perceptions on whether dogs should be used for meat, and 2015 seems to be the year where the conflict has erupted into something much larger than it has been in the past. The Yulin Dog Meat Festival, occurring since 2009 (much more recently than most people believe), became a topic hotly debated that caused uprisings worldwide. At the Festival, approximately 10,000 dogs are killed and eaten to celebrate the Summer Solstice. Leading up to the festival, animal welfare activists began to speak out against the Festival for various reasons including dogs’ typical roles as pets, the inhumane methods of killing the dogs, and the ways of obtaining the dogs. What began as opposition within China spread to worldwide outrage, especially within the U.S. and United Kingdom.

http://collectivelyconscious.net/articles/chinese-woman-pays-1100-to-save-100-dogs-from-chinese-dog-eating-festival/

     The local governments of Yulin disconnected themselves from the Festival for a variety of reasons, and these reasons are also why so many people are against the Festival. Brutality is rampant in nearly all parts of the Festival. Dogs are often stolen from homes (many dogs arrive with collars) and are transported over 1,000 miles to Yulin, a process taking days and often lacking in providing food and water to the dogs. Safety for these dogs is obviously an issue, and the diseases that are spread cause a large safety hazard for those who handle and potentially for those who eat the dogs. The methods of killing the dogs are extremely violent and inhumane: dogs are beaten, occasionally knocking them unconscious, their throats are slit, not always killing them, and then they are skinned, sometimes alive. Little wonder that many people arrived at the Festival to protest. However, many of these animal activists were attacked, and in some instances undercover police had to step in.

     The main argument of supporters of the Festival is that many people eat different animals – why are dogs so different? This argument is valid – as I discussed before, there is a lot of talk around the taboos of meat eating, and logically, what makes eating dog so different from eating cow? The main issue I have with the Yulin Festival is not the fact that dogs are being eaten. The main issue is the violent, inhumane methods of acquiring and killing the dogs.

     Personally, I do not expect China to stop eating dog meat completely even though it is against my moral code. It has been a part of their culture for hundreds of years. However, the recent development of the Yulin Dog Meat Festival is unnecessary and horribly inhumane. Dogs should not be stolen from their human families to be mistreated and killed brutally. Hopefully, 2016 will be a year of change and promotion of animal welfare, especially for the dogs whose live are lost at the Yulin Festival.

Here are some interesting informational sources on the Yulin Festival: 

Chinese dog-eating festival outrages foreigners - http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-32965554

China Yulin dog meat festival under way despite outrage - http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-33220235

Chinese dog-meat dilemma: to eat or not to eat? - http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-27952543

Chinese City Defends Dog Meat Festival, Despite Scorn - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/24/world/asia/dog-eaters-in-yulin-china-unbowed-by-global-derision.html?_r=0

Friend or food? Dog meat trade divides China - http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/18/opinions/china-yulin-dog-festival-peter-li/

China's Animal Activists Buy Dogs, Target Restaurant Owners - http://www.ibtimes.com/yulin-dog-meat-festival-2015-chinas-animal-activists-buy-dogs-target-restaurant-1977047