Vivisection
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Vivisection is the practice of using animals for scientific and medical purposes.
What are the experiments for?
Some reasons for animal experiments include:
- Developing treatments for new diseases
- Biological and medical research
- Safety testing (including of cosmetics)
- Animals bred with an inherited genetic defect for medical research
- Developing new methods of diagnosis
Which animals are used in research?
Rats, mice and other rodents (bred for research)
Fish, birds, amphibians and reptiles
Small mammals other than rodents mainly rabbits and ferrets
Sheep, cows, pigs and other large mammals
Dogs and cats (bred for research)
Monkeys such as marmosets and macaques
What do experiments on animals prove?
Many animal experiments are performed to highlight any potentially harmful effects of newly-developed medicines and chemical substances on humans. In some cases, researchers try to mimic conditions affecting humans (e.g. cancer, cystic fibrosis, arthritis, etc.) in the anima...
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