Animal Testing. Bad.

          So, today I finished the book Virals by Kathy Reichs, the author of the series that inspired the TV show Bones- my favorite show right now. When I picked it up, I was drawn in merely by the proclaimer on the front stating it was by the author who inspired Bones, but as I read on, I discovered that not only was it a very good book, but it dealt with some issues that I found very intriguing, as well as mixing in mystery, action, and fantasy. The issue I'm writing on today is the issue of animal testing.
          In the book, the four main characters are infected by a virus that they are unknowingly exposed to after rescuing a test dog from the scientific facility where the real main character- Tory's- dad works. Keep in mind that  it was an unauthorized, illegal experiment run by the dislikable head of the the institute, Dr. Karsten. Now, what I am responding to is the horrible condition that the children in the book find the dog in. The poor puppy is so sick that he can't stand, in a small cage, with "a soiled mat and a bowl of water." He was scheduled to be euthanized. Now, that made me think about animal testing in real life, and the companies that put animals through that. I think that animal testing should be outlawed, because- think about it. These poor animals are considered inferior to humans, so they're what we test products on that we believe could be deadly, or horribly painful, but they can feel pain too! It's inhumane.
          Also, it started to get me thinking about the dilemma animal testing posses in the medical industry. On one hand, we definitely don't want to prevent new medicines from being made; what if there was a cure for cancer being researched, but it couldn't move past the early stages because there wasn't anything to experiment it on? Then, some could point out that it would be better to test it on some animals and save millions of people, right? My belief is that it is wrong. I think that the next time scientists think, "well we need to test it on animals- it's still too dangerous to test on humans!" that they should ask around a bit first, and see if there's anyone willing to be part of a test group anyway. I think that we should outlaw testing, because people? We're human. We're stubborn, mule headed people who get what we want. So if we take away animal testing, I am almost positive that we will find another way to invent medicines, and regain just a little bit of America's conscience. And as for the makeup industries that need to test that brand new revolutionary mascara that will make your lashes 10x longer? Get over yourselves. We can live with lashes that are 9.5x longer.