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When one hears the words "animal testing", they may think of a mouse with a human ear growing on its back, which is used in reconstructive surgery, or of a caged animal waiting for its ultimate torture. These two thoughts, which clearly depict completely opposite views, are the very reason why animal testing is so controversial. This issue has positive as well as negative aspects. Animal testing may be unpleasant for animals, but animal testing brings medical advancements in human society. So as one can understand, a resolution to this problem does not easily come about.

Animal testing has existed for years and is still practiced today. Animals are tested for numerous reasons, such as for the testing of medicines and cosmetics. There are documents that show that the Greeks used animals for testing in the third and fourth centuries BCE. "Aristotle was one of the first to perform experiments on living animals and Galen, a physician in second-century Rome is known as the "father of vivisection" [which means to cut or dissect and is used today to describe animal experimentation]"(Wikipedia 3). A dog was the first to orbit the earth and a sheep was the first animal to be cloned. Animal testing has been a part of our history.

Animals are used in research for medical research and for the testing of medical procedures. Antibiotics, insulin for diabetes, and vaccines for polio and hepatitis exist today because of such testing. Measuring blood pressure, heart machines, and lung

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machines are a couple of medical procedures that are used today to save as well as monitor lives. These procedures only exist due to the fact that animals are used to test them. Animal testing is not only beneficial for humans, but also for animals. Heartworm medicine for animals was founded due to animal testing as well as the better understanding of cat nutrition. Animal experimentation clearly benefits society as a whole.

Some might wonder where the animals used for research come from. Animals are bought from animal dealers. There are two different types of animal dealers, class A and class B dealers. Class A dealers only sell animals that they have bred themselves and have a license to do so. Class B dealers also sell animals that they have bred themselves, but can also sell animals they did not breed themselves, which are bought from people who simply do not want their pets anymore. They have a license to do so as well. Class B dealers also have been known to sell stray dogs that they picked up off the street for research. They have also been known to sell dogs for research that they got out of animal shelters, which is illegal in most states, but legal in others.

Animals are used usually for only one experiment, but can be used for two. These animals used for testing often do not live out their full life expectancies. So these animals are often euthanized, which means to put to death, after the research is over. Some animals also die during these experiments as well.

Animal research exists in the United states, Japan, and Europe. Specifically in Europe, animal research is practiced in the United Kingdom and France. All kinds of animals are used for research as well as a big number of them. According to BBC Science

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and Nature, "2,567,713 animals were used for research in the UK in the year 2001. One million of that figure were mice, 400,000 were rats, 23,000 were rabbits, 3,000 were primates, 100,000 were birds, 300 were reptiles as well as many more different types of animals"(1). So almost every kind of animal is used for research.

According to British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection, "one hundred million animals are used for research each year"(Wikipedia 5). Scientists use rats and mice most often in research, because they are easy to take care of and "can produce up to one hundred babies a year"(Wikipedia 6). Out of the dogs used for research, "Beagles are mostly used, because they are friendly and gentle when conducting toxicity, which is the testing of the effects of poisons as well as the antidotes, and dental experiments"(Wikipedia 6). Chimpanzees are the main primates used in the United States.

Certain types of animals, such as birds, mice, and rats, which make up about eighty five percent of research animals, have been excluded from statistical information on the number of animals used for research, which shows that an even larger number of animals is being used for research than statistics will tell. "Figures released by the British home office show that there was a sixty three thousand increase in animals used in research in 2004 compared to 2003"(Wikipedia 5). So the number of animals used for research is not only a greater number than statistics show, but it is also increasing.