Why animal testing fails

[Catherine]

The subject of the value of animal testing has been in the news lately. Different disease studies are getting no results form animal testing. I found an article that looks at why animal testing fails to give results.

http://news.google.ca/news/url?sr=1&ct2=...t=2&at=dt0

I don't agree with the conclusion that we should still keep animal testing, but the article itself lays out the reasons why animal testing fails.

We are at the point where we know it doesn't work. Why are we still clinging to it. We are still causing animals to suffer and die even though we know it is pointless.  It is useful to understand why it is pointless.

[LPC]

I think many scientists are now coming around to the view of Akhtar, expressed in the first part of the article. But many large labs (some of them on a near-industrial scale) have invested "big bucks" (as the Americans say) in cages and animal research equipment. They are therefore reluctant to give it all up, as they fear criticism of waste of money (either public funded or donated).

The tide is turning, however, as tissue culture is cheaper and gives reliable results.

[Catherine]

Quote:The tide is turning, however, as tissue culture is cheaper and gives reliable results.

This is the point, cheaper and better, who wouldn't choose tissue culture.

However you are right about the money invested in cages and research equipment.
The labs could be converted to tissue culture, but what do you do with all the cages? Staff are trained to work on animals. Many of them would need a lot more training before they could work on tissue cultures. If you neglect tissue cultures, they die! Neglected animals just suffer in silence.

The change will come, but much slower than it should. Millions more money, time and animal lives will be wasted before animal testing is abandoned. Many people will develop and die of diseases that we will one day cure because we are so slow to change.
This is a very sad situation in every way. When we push to stop animal testing we are the voice of the future saying there is a better way.
If only the right people would listen.

[Tobi]

(04-15-2017, 03:09 PM)Catherine Wrote: The labs could be converted to tissue culture, but what do you do with all the cages? Staff are trained to work on animals. Many of them would need a lot more training before they could work on tissue cultures.

It's all about money and 'budgets' again really isn't it?
When laws are changed by "authorities" people have no choice but to accept it and re-group. That's the thing. If something is tenuous, people can carry on doing the same old thing. It's only when law steps in that they have no option but to change and quickly.
Oh, they can always do it! If they are not forced to they cannot be bothered.

And the cages would come in handly if they were donated to an animal Rescue or Veterinary practice.

[Catherine]

Quote:And the cages would come in handly if they were donated to an animal Rescue or Veterinary practice.

Many of the cages would not be suitable. They provide a stark bare minimum for an animal. Shelters are moving away from small cages whenever possible. My local shelter has  multiple small "rooms" that a number of cats can share. That gets a lot of cats out of cages. The cages are opened up so each cat gets two spaces and so has some room to live for the sort time they are there.
The bunnies have enclosures on the floor that give each rabbit lots of room to live and hop around.
They knocked out walls and each dog gets two kennels so it has room to move around.
Lab cages would not be welcome.


It is all about money and most companies will only change when the law says they must. Even then they will be given years to make the changes. If the companies cared about the research first they would want to change to newer and better methods.
Researchers sometimes fight change. If you were trained to only work with animals for testing, tissue culture would be threatening. The techniques are very different.  A few days of classes would not be enough. It is a whole different specialization.
Lab techs would not be able to make the transition and some would be out of work.

No change is easy. But you can't hold progress up because it requires change. Worse you shouldn't hold onto bad ways of doing things because you don't want to change.