Animal Experimentation

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Dear Mr. President:

My name is Lorenzo Petrov. I am a student at Parkway West Middle School, and I am writing you today to share my thoughts about animal experimentation. I became interested in animal experimentation because I love animals and do not want them to be harmed in laboratories or otherwise. I've also visited the Humane Society and was inspired by their compassion and care for animals.

Animal experimentation is an issue because millions of animals in the United States are harmed by experiments or suffer in laboratories every year. More than 100 million mice and rats, who account for the majority of these animals, are killed in U.S. laboratories every year. More than 75,000 dogs, including thousands of homeless animals from animal shelters, are tormented in U.S. laboratories every year. Rabbits, more than 241,000 of them, are frequent victims of animal experiments because they are mild tempered and easy to handle, confine, and breed. Tens of thousands of pigs are abused in U.S. laboratories, not including the millions more that are killed on factory farms. Nearly 22,000 homeless cats that were betrayed by animal shelters are abused in U.S. laboratories. Because the Animal Welfare Act does not provide protection to fish, millions of them are abused, confined, and even killed in cruel experiments around the world. Annually, more than 124,000 primates, mostly consisting of monkeys, are abused, killed, and driven insane in experiments in the U.S.

These sensitive, intelligent, and feeling animals are confined in steel barren cages with no environmental enrichment. These animals also have barely enough room to move and are rarely fed. They are also subjected to loneliness, boredom, and insanity. These animals experience physical abuse, psychological stress and social isolation. They also suffer through pain and misery. Animals are used in pharmaceutical tests, vaccine tests, military experiments, maternal-deprivation experiments, and invasive brain experiments.

I would like you to strongly encourage and support animal testing alternatives, such as using human cell cultures, tissue studies, artificial human "skin" and "eyes", and virtual computer organs that act as models of human body parts. Also, if possible, make it illegal for manufacturers to harm animals in experiments.

Thank you for your work and  taking the time to read this. I greatly appreciate it.

 

Sincerely,

Lorenzo Petrov

Parkway West Middle School

St. Louis Missouri

 

 

Mrs. Elsie F. Rafferty

MOSAICS Specialist

Parkway West Middle School

 

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