Do the animals suffer that are used in experiments?
Simply being restrained in captivity is very stressful for most animals. Recent studies have shown that the frustration of life in a standard barren laboratory cage literally drives many animals insane – causing severe abnormalities in their brains. Even simple routine procedures, such as taking a blood sample, can be very distressing for animals, especially if undertaken by a clumsy or inexperienced technician. It is not always easy to find the vein in small, frightened animals, especially if they struggle. But most experiments involve far more suffering than this. In safety tests, a long tube is pushed down the throat to the stomach so that the test chemical can be force-fed to the animal. The purpose is to measure any vomiting, diarrhoea, convulsions, bloody tears, skin lesions, ulcers, breathing difficulty or damage to the eyes, lungs, kidneys or heart.
