Imagine monkeys and dogs crying out in pain, rabbits bleeding from the eyes because of chemicals, and three or four animals crammed into tiny cages. This is what scientists that test on animals see everyday. In America, 30 million animals are tested on every year. Rats, mice, guinea pigs, dogs, monkeys, cats, and rabbits are only some of the types of animals that are used for testing (Update: Animal Testing). Animal testing is not justified because it is cruelty to animals and because animals aren’t models for humans.

The first reason animal testing is not justified is that it is cruelty to animals. When animal tests are done, scientists inject chemicals into the skin, for example, to see if they have a certain reaction. Obviously, this can’t be pleasant for the animal. Some of the chemicals are very harmful or even deadly to the animals. In the article Animal Experimentation is Never Justified, from Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center, it describes some of the horrors of animal testing, “conscious monkeys are forced to inhale toxic smoke; improperly anaesthetized dogs are subject to invasive surgery; blinded cats are dropped into vats of water; guinea pigs are coated with corrosive substances that eat through their organs.” If starving a pet is considered animal cruelty and you can go to jail for it, then putting lab animals through painful and irritating test should also be considered animal cruelty. It is also animal cruelty because of the way the animals are treated in the labs. The animals are put under so much stress in small cages with sounds of other animals in pain. Issues and Controversies’ article titled, Update: Animal testing tells the effects of stress, “routine handling… [elicits] striking elevations in pulse, blood pressure and steroid hormone release that can persist for an hour or more after the event.” If the animals are stressed out, the results will be inaccurate. The stress affects the animal’s nervous systems, which in return affects the results of the tests. Animal cruelty by definition is voluntary harm to an animal. The companies that test on animals are aware that their products can be or are harmful to animals. Otherwise they would just put it straight on the market. Animal testing is not justified because it is animal cruelty.

The second reason animal testing is not justified is because animals are not models of humans. Although animals are quite similar to humans, animals and humans differ too much to get accurate test results. An article from Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center, called Animals Testing Is Never Justified, explains why animals are not models of humans, “Each species has its own biological system and therefore responds differently to drugs and surgeries.” Just because rabbits and humans are both mammals, doesn’t mean that we are exactly alike biologically. In the same article it was stated that, “many drugs that test safe for animals are later found to cause harmful side effects in humans.” The only way to get results for products that are made for humans is to test it on humans. Stem-cell research is the best model for humans.

In conclusion, animal testing is a waste of time and money. Testing on animals is cruel and also animals are not models for humans. I order to get real results that will be accurate; companies need to test their products on human stem-cells