Why does animal experimentation persist today?
There are many reasons for the continuation of animal experiments: • It is tradition. Individual scientists do not question the practice because it is how they were taught; it is what their professors have always done; and a large volume of scientific literature describes it. • Vivisection is big business. The pharmaceutical industry is the most profitable in the world and its interests are strongly protected by governments. Animal experiments appeal to drug and biotechnology companies because the data produced can be manipulated to suit their commercial interests. • Most importantly – animal experiments provide a legal defence for pharmaceutical companies when people are injured or killed by adverse drug reactions. • The animal research industry keeps people employed, so many have a direct or indirect vested interest in the process. Crucially, the law encourages the use of animals in drug development – as a result of pressure from the pro-vivisection lobby. If these same vested intere
