"I wonder whether those who object (to animal testing) to finding a higher solution for a major health problem would prefer to see a women continue to suffer and die from breast cancer rather than accept the use of any form of animal experimentation, which appears to us essential for making any real progress in research on this disease."
K.K. Caroll Former Director of the Centre for Human Nutrition, University of Western Ontario
There's a real cast of characters at the hotel . All we need to do is go to the bar, sit at a table and we end up chatting to everyone. Our waitress works at the Doubletree but is employed also at the animal laboratory at the hospital. While I would prefer that experimentation on animals was not part of scientific research I recognize that progress in the fight against cancer and other serious diseases have used animals as part of the research process.
However, I was sad to find out that there are 1,300 chimps - many of whom were captured from the wild- living in laboratories in the United States. Only Japan, Liberia and Gabon still use chimpanzees for research . Not only are chimps an intelligent and social animal, they are also highly endangered. Fortunately, a new chimp sanctuary, "Chimp Haven " has opened in Louisiana. This provides a sanctuary for chimpanzees retired from medical research, the entertainment industry or those no longer wanted as pets.
I nervously asked our waitress what sort of animals were held in the lab, I was relieved to find out that they had mice , rats and a solitary groundhog - no large animals (not that this makes any difference apart from soothing my sensitivities ) and animals were only used as part of an experiment for 15 days.
While there are some harsh realities associated with medical research . I wonder if there are some alternatives ? Lung cancer and cigarettes is a sad example of failed experiments on animals. . Years spent feeding or injecting animals in the labs with tobacco derivatives or forcing them to inhale smoke, were unable to 'demonstrate' a cancer "link ". This allowed the tobacco industry to deny any causal association between smoking and cancer for many years and undoubtedly led to thousands of additional deaths.
The truth is that despite the many arguments opposing animal research , I do not take the moral "high road" . If there was a treatment out there that could potentially help I would eagerly embrace anything that could buy my mother time or add to her quality of life . Maybe somewhere there is a scientist in a lab right now that is on the verge of making a connection , a process or a procedure that could help my mum. How I wish that was true .......
