Are horses tested on like monkeys are in animal testing for human products and medical procedures?
Not usually. Horses are large animals that take a lot of looking after – they need a large area to live in, need exercising and grooming, and require a lot of food, all of which costs money. They also breed relatively slowly. Laboratories want animals that are small, easily handled, cheap to house and feed, and which reproduce quickly – rats, mice and rabbits are all common lab animals for these reasons. However, anti-venom – the antidote to the venom of various snakes, spiders, scorpions and so on – is created by injecting small amounts of venom into horses. The horse then builds up antibodies to the venom, which can be harvested from the horse’s blood and used to treat people or animals who have been bitten/stung. This is not harmful to the horse, and does not hurt it. Sadly, many lab animals suffer terribly, and are eventually either killed or die from the procedures or drugs inflicted on them.
