1. The animals most commonly used for research are cats,
    dogs, and monkeys.

FALSE - The majority of animals used in research in the U.S. (over 95 percent) are rats, mice, and guinea pigs obtained from scientific breeding centers. Only one percent are dogs and cats obtained from breeding centers or occasionally from pounds. Less than one percent are primates (monkeys and chimpanzees). The remaining animals are pigs, rabbits, cattle, and sheep (obtained from agricultural sources), and birds, fish, frogs, and snakes.

2. Scientists do not have to follow any rules or laws when
    they use animals in research.

FALSE - Federal law maintains strict guidelines and regulations for the care, treatment, and use of animals in all research facilities. This law, the Animal Welfare Act, is regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It sets standards of cleanliness and care, including veterinary care and the use of painkillers for research animals. The Animal Welfare Act requires that animal dealers be licensed and inspected and the USDA is required by the Act to conduct unannounced visits to all registered research facilities at least once a year.

In addition, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) has guidelines regarding the “Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.”

Researchers also maintain an animal care and use committee (IACUC) that reviews every single research project to ensure that animals are treated responsibly and humanely, and in fact, that animals are necessary in the research. IACUC committees are composed of veterinarians, researchers, representatives from the scientific community, and at least one community member that is not affiliated with the research facility.

3. Laboratory animals suffer pain and distress.

FALSE - Animals in research laboratories receive excellent care. Veterinarians and their staff are very involved in the care and treatment of laboratory animals. Their job is to ensure that the animals are given proper drugs to eliminate pain or discomfort. Researchers realize the use of animals is a privilege, and those animals that are helping us unlock the mysteries of disease deserve our respect and the best possible care. Also, a healthy and well-treated animal will provide more reliable and valid scientific results.

All animals involved in research must be anesthetized or receive medication to prevent any pain. The use of animals in research and testing is strictly controlled, particularly regarding potential pain.

In fact, most animals in research facilities lead much longer lives than if they lived in the wild.

4. Animals abused and mistreated.

FALSE - Government agencies can fine and close down a research facility that abuses and mistreats animals. Research funds can be stopped. A researcher convicted of cruelty to animals can be suspended or dismissed.

The animal rights movement usually relies on a handful of instances that occurred in the 1970’s and early 1980’s to bolster their claim that animals in research are being abused ‘behind close doors’ at a medical facility. The fact is, in thousands of studies and experiments since 1980, NIH found only 14 instances in which sanctions were warranted. These sanctions ranged from investigator or institution reprimands, to suspension or loss of NIH funds. In that period, NIH suspended funding to four institutions. To date, only two projects (“Silver Spring Monkeys” study and a University of Pennsylvania baboon head injury project) have been terminated. Neither researcher involved in these cases were convicted of cruelty to animals.

Many of the pictures of animals depicted in ‘alleged abused situations’ are actually cases was the incidents were staged or the pictures were manipulated.

5. Most laboratory animals are from pounds and animal
    shelters, and pets are often stolen and sold to
    researchers.

FALSE - Contrary to popular belief, animals used for research are mostly bred and raised by the researchers themselves. Those that are not are obtained directly from animal pounds or government-licensed dealers, not from unlicensed individuals. If an individual does steal a pet, they can’t legally sell it to a research center.

Very few states allow dogs to be purchased for research from animal shelters or the pounds. According to the Human Society of America, between 8 to 10 million unclaimed dogs and cats are killed at the pounds and shelters each year because they were abandoned by their owners and not adopted. In few instances, some animals already scheduled to be killed by the pound or shelter may be released to research.

6. People are not used as subjects for medical research,
    only for testing in clinical trails.

TRUE - It is unethical and illegal to experiment on humans. New drugs, devices, or procedures must receive legal approval from the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) BEFORE being given to humans. In order to receive this approval, tests must be done to obtain reliable and effective results.

Under federal law, humans can be used in drug trails only AFTER drugs have passed through a number of rigorous living module tests to assure that they are safe and received FDA approval for human studies. Without animals, drugs could never be legally developed enough to give to a human.

7. Researchers do not care about the animals they use in
    their research.

FALSE - Researchers are strong supporters of animal welfare, and are obligated to provide humane and ethical care to ensure the health and well being of all animals in their care. To do otherwise would be unethical and irresponsible, and would endanger the quality of our research work.

8. Animal research is scientific fraud, since animals and
    humans are so different.

FALSE - There are many similarities between humans and various species of animals. For example, much of what we know about the immune system has come from studies with mice. Cats have helped us know more about sleep disorders such as SIDS, sleep apnea, and epilepsy. And much of what we know about the human heart and lungs has come from studies with dogs. Primates share 98 percent of human genes. Much of what we know about the brain, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, AIDS, viruses, hepatitis, and cancer has come from monkeys and chimpanzees.

9. Animal research is unnecessary; the same things could
    be learned by using computers or other non-animal
    methods.

FALSE - Whenever possible, researchers do use non-animal models. Computers, cell and tissue cultures are a useful supplement to animal research. Computer models are used to screen and determine a toxic level of substances in the beginning of an experiment.

However, final tests must be done on a living model. Blindness cannot be studied in bacteria, nor high blood pressure in tissue cultures. And none of these studies can be completely accurate and effective simulated on computers.

To study many common and often devastating disorders, there is no choice but to work with animals whose organs are similar to those of human beings. Every year, however, medical researchers work hard to develop NEW techniques of research where animals are NOT used. In fact, the number of animals used in research in the U.S. has actually decreased by 40 percent since 1968.