[1] Tens of millions of animals are killed every year in scientific research and testing. Their number has grown over recent years, most probably because more biomedical research is being carried out around the world. The most commonly used animals are mice, fish, and rats, but many other species including monkeys, cats, dogs, horses and pigs are also used.
[2] Animals are experimented on for many reasons. These include understanding human biology, developing and testing cure for humans and obtaining fundamental knowledge in teaching. Furthermore, many companies depend on animals for testing the safety of their substances and products. Another major reason is developing
veterinary treatments for other animals.
[3] Scientists insist that new remedies for serious illnesses cannot be developed unless their safety and efficacy are tested on animals. Similarly, they argue that understanding basic biology and creating new medicines cannot be achieved without animal research. “Consequences will be terrible if research using animals is blocked,” said Nancy Lee, senior policy adviser in London.
[4] However, we may no longer need to rely on animals to test the safety of different medications, chemicals, or cosmetics in the future. A few months ago, scientists developed the first computer system known as RASCAR which can accurately detect toxic substances. RASCAR is just one of many potential alternatives to animal testing. “I’m extremely optimistic about this and other similar tools to restrict animal testing,” says Andrew Rowan, chief scientific officer for The Humane Society of the United States. “Using animals in tests is significantly very expensive. It takes three years to do comprehensive testing while RASCAR takes only few
minutes,” he adds.
[5] Tom Regan, a philosophy professor in the USA, states: “Animals and people are alike in many ways; they both feel, think, behave, and experience pain.” Thus, animals should be treated with the same respect as humans. When animals are reduced to being mere tools in a scientific experiment, their rights are taken away without any thought of their well-being. Tests often cause pain and suffering or even death.
Comprehension Questions:
A. ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY.
1. The number of animals killed in scientific research is increasing.
2. Experimenting on animals benefits other animals.
3. Andrew Rowan is for the use of tools like RASCAR instead of animal testing.
B. ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS:
1. List two reasons why scientists test on animals.
2. What is one advantage of using RASCAR?
3. In what way are animals similar to people according to Tom Regan?
C. COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES.
1. Nancy Lee thinks that research will be affected …………………………….
2. The function of RASCAR is to ………………………..
D. FIND IN THE TEXT WORDS THAT MEAN ALMOST THE SAME AS
1. limit ( paragraph 4) : ………………….
2. instruments (paragraph 5) : ………………………..
E. WHAT DO THE UNDERLINED WORDS IN THE TEXT REFER TO?
1. they (paragraph 3) : ……………
2. he (paragraph 4) : ………..
