Many of the products and medicines we use today have been developed through the use of animal testing. While considered the better option when compared to human testing, and essential to our own scientific progress, testing product and drug safety on animals is cruel and harmful. Instead, we need to continue to refine the ethical standards of testing, engage in thoughtful debates about the role of animal testing in scientific research, and seek alternatives.

The Animal Welfare Institute defines this line of thinking through the principles of replacement, reduction, and refinement (3Rs).

Replacement refers to “achieving a research goal or objective without conducting experiments on animals. Methods are employed whereby animals are replaced with suitable alternatives.” Recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help replace the continued testing on animals by navigating global animal testing results for relevant information to substitute data already researched. Another way to replace animal testing is to use human cells to test for allergies and/or negative reactions reducing the number of animals used for such painful processes just because they have a similar physiology.

Reduction refers to “the use of methods that allow researchers to obtain comparable levels of information using fewer animals.” Many companies are starting to reduce animal testing in certain areas such as toxicity testing, neuroscience, and drug development. Such companies have been forced to reduce the number of animals tested because of rising costs but also because of better practice. Such research can use test tube experiment data to determine whether larger studies are necessary, can utilize shared data so experiments are duplicated leading to less animals being hurt

Animal testing involves procedures that cause pain, suffering, and often death. The violence, in this context, is not just about physical harm but also about exploiting animals for human gain that won’t be for help in the end. Refinement refers to “practices that reduce or eliminate the animals’ pain, stress and discomfort—not only during experimental procedures, but in relation to the animals’ daily social and physical environments, as well.” Organizations like the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promotes more refined, less invasive procedures like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) and the use of “Humane Endpoints.”  Other refinements like improved, more natural living quarters, compatible companions, and environments that encourage species typical behaviors like foraging, climbing, grooming or burrowing are also necessary.

Animals are known to have similar ability to both feel pain and enjoy life as humans. Imagine spending that life in prison, taken from your mother, harassed by staff, exposed to extreme heat, tortured, and subjected to multiple viruses, cancers, and surgeries until you are of no further use.  That’s the daily reality for thousands of animals across the globe.