NGO I created and reflections on my presentation

     If I were to create an NGO about animal testing, it would be called "Animal and Human Equality." We will deal with animal rights, especially issues related to animal testing. There are many NGOs around the world that are concerned with animals, but very few of them focus only on animal testing, so I think our group is different from many other groups in that way. Our mission is "to ensure that animals have the same right to life as humans and to realize a world where animals can live as animals do." Most of the animals used in the experiments are deprived of their freedom by humans and are killed after they have been used as tools. We don't treat humans that way, but we easily treat animals that way, and I feel it's inhumane and doesn't guarantee their rights as the same creatures. So, our goal is to eliminate such animal sacrifice and to replace animal testing with new methods. Of course, it's unrealistic and difficult to completely eliminate animal testing from the world, but if we don't move toward abolishing it, I think it will be difficult to make any further improvements. 

     In order to achieve this goal, there are two main things that we need to do. We first have to raise awareness of the reality of animal testing among as many people as possible. I think it's important to create a website and put all kinds of information on it, but that will only attract the attention of people who are interested in animal testing. In fact, I have found through my survey that most people are not very interested in animal testing, and very few people have much knowledge about it. Considering this, we need to conduct various forms of awareness raising activities to provide information to those who are not interested. I think the easiest way to do that is to share information on social media. Like Ralph's video, which I have used before, I think that using YouTube to inspire people and inform them about the current state of animal testing is an effective way to engage people around the world. In the same way, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are also very useful in terms of sharing information with people around the world, not only through text, but also with videos and photos. In addition to post the information there, it would be a good to mention that we are looking for members, and if they agree with our ideas and policies, they can join our group through our homepage. I also think that visiting some schools and giving lectures would be an effective way. Even if they don't get interested, I think it's very meaningful to share information about animal testing with the younger generation who often use social networking sites and who will be a part of society in the future. Another way to achieve the goal is to recommend and promote effective alternatives to institutions and organizations that conduct animal testing. Even if we attract the interest of people who don't actually do animal testing, we can't change the current situation if we don't change the consciousness of people who actually do animal testing. So, we need to show such people effective alternatives, such as in vitro tests and computer-based tests that I mentioned earlier. If those institutions agree with our explanation and switch from animal testing to other methods, we can gradually reduce the number of animals sacrificed. 

     To help advance the project towards this goal, we would like to fundraise, like many other NGOs. We will use the money to go to various places and tell people about the reality of animal testing. 

     I gave a presentation on this NGO to the class and learned how difficult it is to share my interest in this topic and make it interesting to the audience. I had made a manuscript this time, so I relied too much on that manuscript for the presentation. In the next opportunity like this,  I will try to express my thoughts concisely to the audience without looking at the manuscript.

Results of my Survey Monkey

     I would like to share the results of my survey on animal testing. I don’t think there are so many people who are very familiar with animal testing, but in order to find out what those people think about animal testing, I conducted this survey. I used Instagram and LINE to find people to answer this survey, and 34 people answered my survey. Most of them are Japanese students. 

     First, I asked them about their impressions of animal testing. I had the impression that animal testing was cruel, so I expected that most people would be concerned about the animals in this survey as well. Of course, many of them said that they felt sorry for the animals and that it was inhumane, but on the other hand, others said that it was a necessary for our lives, so it was inevitable.

       So, when I asked them whether they were for or against animal testing after that, 35% of them said they were for animal testing. I thought most people would be against it, so I was surprised that more than 10 people were for it. Those people who were in favor of animal testing thought that it was necessary for the development of new drugs and vaccines. Those who were against animal testing also thought that the experiments were conducted to advance science and reduce the risks to humans. I think this suggested that although most people share a common understanding of the purpose of animal testing, their opinions differ depending on whether they think it is inevitable or whether they think animal rights should be guaranteed.

The Reality of Animal Testing 2

     I'd like to show the general idea of animal testing again. This post is also answers to my research questions.

     First of all, how long has animal testing been done? It is said that the first person to use live animals for experiments was Erasistratus in ancient Greece (290 BC). There are many theories, but it is thought that experiments on animals began in the 17th century. The beginning of this idea was Descartes' advocacy that "animals are machines." He demonstrated that animals don't have spirits or emotions, so they're just machines. Therefore, he justified the use of animals by humans as tools for experimentation. Of course, I don't believe anyone thinks that way anymore, but the fact is that animal testing is still being done.

     So what is the current thinking on this? The concept of the 3Rs, meaning Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement, is now widespread internationally. Many of the researchers conducting the experiments also believe that if there is an alternative method that does not use animals, they should use it, but that is still difficult to do right now. So they aim to reduce the burden on the animals by improving the experiment methods so that more useful information can be obtained. For this reason, in Japan, there is a requirement that the person conducting the experiment must be proficient in experimental techniques and the handling of laboratory animals. There are no specific qualifications required to do experiments, but there is an exam called the Laboratory Animal Technician Exam conducted by the Japanese Society for Laboratory Animal Resources, and it is recommended that people pass that exam to become qualified. In addition, it is required to take appropriate care of animals by managing, sterilizing, disinfecting, and preventing infection so as not to cause unnecessary pain and suffering, and to create a comfortable environment that reduces anxiety and stress for the animals when keeping them. 

     The next step is to know who will be conducting the experiment on the animal and for what purpose. Animal testing is used in more areas than we expect. For example, those who study basic biology and diseases, assessing the effectiveness of new medicinal products, and testing the human health or environmental safety, it is essential to use animals in their experiments. Many organizations are still relying on animals because there is currently no perfect alternative method that can mimic the entire human body. At the same time, however, there are those who argue that the use of animals in research is unreliable. Actually, more than 90 percent of drugs that have passed animal trials for safety and efficacy are not successful in treating the human disease for which they are intended. 

生理学領域における動物実験に関する基本的指針. (2015, April 1).  http://physiology.jp/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/animal-guideline-20150302.pdf

松田幸久. (n.d.). gikan1.html. 動物とヒトとのかかわり ー特に医学において動物実験が果たした役割ー. Retrieved July 14, 2021, from http://www.med.akita-u.ac.jp/%7Edoubutu/gijutubu/gikan1.html

Word Cloud

 

I created this from PETA's website(https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/animals-used-experimentation-factsheets/animal-experiments-overview/) using the Word Cloud Generator! Since the topic of this blog is animal testing, "animal" and "experiment" are of course prominent, but "human" is also written in large font. This word cloud will give you an overview more easily than reading a whole article.

The Reality of Animal Testing

   In this post, I would like to learn the current basic information about animal testing in relation to the research question I posted before.

    

  First of all, according to Wikipedia, animal testing is the process of testing a potentially dangerous chemical or device on animals before applying it to humans. So why are experiments on animals used as a first step to experiments on humans? This is because animals have life principles similar to those of humans. For example, in medical research, in order to produce any results based on scientific evidence, it is necessary to study how the organs, cells, and other components of the human body work. The results from those studies should also be carefully examined to determine how the new drugs and scientific technologies will affect the human body. Many of those studies require the use of living organisms and research and testing on humans are also conducted. However, research using humans naturally has its limitations, so they have no choice but to sacrifice animals for their experiments. Just as humans eat animals as food, animals are helping to provide a part of human life.

     Then, what kind of animals are often used for experiments? As many people might expect, rats and mice make up about 90% of the animals used, and many other animals such as frogs, dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, monkeys, fish, and birds are also used for experiments. The type of animal used depend on the purpose of the experiment. For example, animals with short life cycles are used to study aging and genetics that require lifelong or multi-generational observation, while medium-sized animals (dogs, pigs, etc.) that are similar in size to humans are used to develop surgical methods and study organ transplantation. In Japan, it is common to purchase animals raised for research purposes from traders and use them for experiments. As for dogs, cats, and monkeys, they sometimes take over some of the animals that would otherwise be killed. Each year, more than 115 million animals are killed all over the world for biology lessons, medical training, curiosity-driven experimentation, and chemical, drug, food, and cosmetics testing. When using animals in research, researchers will make every effort and take care to treat them humanely and avoid causing them pain. Still, some are forced to inhale toxic fumes, others are immobilized in restraint devices for hours, some have holes drilled into their skulls, and others have their skin burned off or their spinal cords crushed. And at the end of the experiment, most of those animals are euthanized.

     I realized that animal experiments have contributed greatly to the development of human life, but I still felt that it was cruel. I will continue to learn more about the reality of animal testing in my next post.

Facts and Statistics About Animal Testing. (2021, May 19). PETA. https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/animals-used-experimentation-factsheets/animal-experiments-overview/

動物実験について | 日本生理学会. (2009, June 20). 日本生理学会. http://physiology.jp/guidance/4804/

From an Animal Perspective

  I want to live a "normal" life, just like you humans. We are treated as if we were born to be experimented, even though we were not born of our own choice. Since we can't speak, we can't communicate our thoughts to the people conducting the experiments. To tell the truth, I don't like pain and I don't want to be kept locked in a lab forever. I want to be free to go where I want and eat what I want. And yet, I'm always fighting the fear of dying at any moment for the sake of humans.

  But if we can help humans, then I feel that all the hard work we have done in the laboratory has not been wasted. If we are destined to be used for research anyway, it seems better that we are rewarded by being useful to someone or something. 

  But still, I don't want to be a victim of violence, and I can't stand to see my friends suffering next to me. We know that our experiments have benefited many humans, but we are not their "instruments.” I always hope that other methods will become more popular and that fewer animals will be harmed by animal testing.

From a Swiss researcher's perspective

  Switzerland, where I live, is said to have some of the strictest animal protection laws in the world. For example, for social species like guinea pigs, rabbits and parakeets, Swiss law requires that they be kept in pairs, at least. 

  According to Swiss law, animal testing is allowed only if there are no alternatives. Therefore, in order for me to experiment with animals, I need to ensure that I follow the 3R principle: replacement via alternative methods, reduction of the number of animals used, and refinement to make methods more humane. Nevertheless, as many as 500,000 animals, mostly rats, are still used for experiments in Switzerland, and a vote to ban animal and human experimentation is expected to be held next year in 2022. 

  But of course, we researchers are not doing animal experiments to harm animals. Animal testing is very useful when developing and using new raw materials for which there is no existing safety data. We need to collect new safety data before we sell our products, which is why we conduct animal testing. It is painful for me, too, to use animals as tools for experimentation, but they give us a lot of discoveries when we create something new.

  I know there are now many alternatives to animal testing. However, it is also true that animal testing is a practice that has been around for many years in many industries, and cannot be easily abolished. In addition, the development of alternative methods that do not use animals has not been a priority until now, and although progress has been made steadily, we have not yet reached the stage where all alternative methods can be used.

  I want to protect animals, but I still need to experiment on them to make my products… 

How well are Swiss animals protected? (2020, February 6). SWI Swissinfo.Ch. https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/animal-welfare_how-well-are-swiss-animals-protected-/45489148

Farlymn, M. (2019, April 2). 化粧品の動物実験について. Humane Society International. https://www.hsi.org/news-media/about_cosmetics_animal_testing_japanese/