From Animal Tests to the Rabbit Ralph

Vertebrate or invertebrate, most the nonhuman animal species are utilized in scientific tests.

Testing On Animals

Animal testing (vivisection) is a procedure that is operated on live animals with scientific aims.

These scientific aims are listed in that way:

• Fundamental research
• Prevention of the diseases, health disorders, and other abnormalities on humans, animals, and plants; diagnosis, treatment or avoiding of them, examining physiological disorders, detection, adjustment, and modification
• Improvement of the production conditions of the animals that are nurtured for agricultural purposes and animal welfare
• Medicines, food, feed ingredient, other components for any of the ones above, and the testing of the quality, efficiency, and credibility of the products.
• Protection of natural environment for human and animal health and welfare
• Research that aims protection of species
• Higher school and education for comprehension, sustainment, and development of vocational skills
• Forensic medicine investigations

Animal Kinds Used in Experiments

Most of the vertebrate and invertebrate non-human living animal kinds are used in scientific tests. Though the animals mostly used in animals are listed such that;

• Mouse
• Rat
• Guinea Pig
• Hamster
• Rabbit
• Dog
• Cat
• Fish
• Monkey

Animals used in animal testing are named “Experiment Animal” or “Lab Animal” in all legal texts. But this is a problematic expression. No animal is born “to be tested on” to have a “lab” as a habitat.

Animals used in experiments, depending on the factors such as violence category of procedure and general health condition after the experiment, may be later used in other works or murdered after the experiment. There are different certain killing methods for each kind and if the animal has permanent damage or severe pain, it is killed with appropriate methods, and the name of the process is “euthanasia”.

Lives Of the Animals During Animal Testing

Conscious animals are dropped chemicals on their eyes, and some of the animals die while trying to escape testing by breaking their necks or spines. Other animals who did not die wait on death row for the other experiments, of course, if their veterinarians approve.

For pregnant people, pregnant animals are selected. This is to correspond your and your baby’s life to another living thing and its baby’s life.

The majority of these experiments result in blindness, the disintegration of the skin, serious injuries, and psychological damage in animals; or they die.

Animal Testing Centres

In all countries that have legal regulations about animal testing, institutions and enterprises are obliged to obtain a work permit/license. The permitting institution is the ministry. In Turkey, the competent ministry is the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests. The private enterprises that are going to do animal testing, produce or supply animals to utilize in experiments, are obliged to form their local ethics assembly and instruction after obtaining permission from the ministry. At the present, there are 135 animal testing centers in Turkey. By denoting the kinds that are going to be used in experiments while obtaining the permission, the centers provide a convenient atmosphere for care and shelter for them. There is also Animal Comfort Unit in these centers and a responsible veterinarian inspects the procedures.

Recorded Experiment Animal Producer

Although the animals that are used in experiments and scientific procedures that take place in Turkey must be obtained from “recorded experiment animal producer”, it may be possible to use stray dogs and dogs or the ones from animal hospices in experiments, in case of putting forth some scientific justifications that the purpose of the study can only be achieved

Categories of Violence

Violence categories help to classify the negative effects of the testing procedure on animals and according to that, the responsible veterinarian determines if the animal can continue living or not or if it can be utilized in other experiments or not. It is a too unacceptable situation; someone can determine if I can continue living or not or they have a free authority to use me for the sake of others. A question that never can be understood is, did we turn into a society that is unaware of empathizing with the animals because they cannot communicate with human languages?

The categories that the veterinarian determines if an animal can continue living or not or can be used in other experiments or not are listed that way:

Cannot Recover: Experiment procedures that are carried out with general anesthesia and the consciousness of the animal is not expected to open

Slight: Experiment procedures that the animal may suffer, get hurt, or feel pain in a short time and which does not cause a significant breakdown in general condition.

Medium: Experiment procedures that animal may suffer, get hurt or feel pain in a medium level for a short time or suffer, get hurt or feel pain in a slight level for a long time, which its general condition is going to be damaged in a medium level

Severe: Experiment procedures in which an animal can get hurt, feel pain, or suffer severely for a short time or long time, which is going to cause a severe level of breakdown of the general condition of the animal.

Animals At The End Of The Experiments

At the end of the experiments, depending on the decision that the veterinarian makes; they are provided appropriate shelter and care services according to their health circumstances. If an animal has medium or severe pain, suffers, aches, or has permanent damage, it is killed.

The ways that animals are killed (Resource: No Animal Testing Organization) are listed:

Fish: Anesthesia overdose (euthanasia) with pre-sedation if necessary, electroshock with special equipment

Reptile: Anesthesia overdose with pre-sedation if necessary, stun gun (in large reptiles), with suitable rifle or gun (by experienced marksmen in field conditions)

Cat: Anesthesia overdose with pre-sedation if necessary, electroshock with special equipment, concussion/head blow (only in newborns), with suitable rifle or gun (by experienced marksmen in field conditions)

Dog: Anesthesia overdose with pre-sedation if necessary, electroshock with special equipment, concussion/head blow (newborns only), with suitable rifle or gun (in field conditions by experienced marksmen)

Rabbit: Anesthesia overdose with sedatives beforehand, breaking the neck (with sedatives for those under 1kg and over 150gr), concussion/head blow (“)

Ferret: Anesthesia overdose with pre-sedation if necessary, electroshock with special equipment, concussion/head blow (only in newborns), with suitable rifle or gun (by experienced marksmen in field conditions)

Fox: Anesthesia overdose with pre-sedation if necessary, electroshock with special equipment, concussion/head blow (only in newborns), with suitable rifle or gun (by experienced marksmen in field conditions)

Rodent: Anesthesia overdose with prior sedatives if necessary, carbon dioxide (only in rodents after the neonatal stage), neck cracking (by giving sedatives to those under 1kg and over 150g), concussion/head blow (in rodents under 1kg), decapitation (when other methods are not possible)

Large Mammals: Anesthesia overdose with pre-sedation if necessary, electroshock with special equipment Inert Gases (for pigs only), with suitable rifle or gun (by experienced marksmen in field conditions)

Use of Animals in Experiments in Turkey

HADMEK (Animal Testing Central Ethics Institution) demands annual activity report from local ethics institutions every year and creates “Annual Statistics” with the information compiled from these reports. In the reports, information such as the kinds and numbers of animals used in testing in a year and the purpose of the use of these animals are present.

Opposing Testing: Anti-Vivisectionism

Like all views have an opposition, an opposing view for vivisectionists also exists. Vivisectionists approve the application of cutting up animals with surgical techniques for scientific aims and regard it as righteous. But as the opposing view anti-vivisectionists do not regard that correct. The primary reason for that is the welfare of animals. But the scientific dimension is also an undeniable reality. The basis of the scientific disapproval is the data, studies, and views that the results obtained from animal testing are not applicable for humans due to biological and physiological distinctions and cause wrong results, which negatively effects human health. When it comes to the animal welfare dimension, it is based on the fact that animals are also living creatures that are sensitive to pain and can feel. Disrupting the body integrity of the animals, and persecuting them physically and psychologically are considered to be ethically wrong behaviors, no matter what the purpose is.

Today there are so many organizations that endeavor to end animal testing and alternative methods to be used in every area, PeTA, Cruelty-Free International, Animal Aid, NEAVS, AAVS, and Animal Free Research are some of them. In Turkey, the first and the only organization established with the principle of opposing animal testing is No Animal Testing Organization which obtained legal entity in 2019.

Many Of the Doctors Do Not Think Animal Testing Is Credible

In a survey that was made in a university teaching medicine, only %45,7 of the academicians studying animals stated that they think animal testing is credible. You may reach the information about the survey here.

Alternative scientific Methods

Some of these methods are what render the ban possible on animal testing on cosmetic products and components that inured in Turkey in 2015 and with the directive of EU in all European countries for a long time. Cosmetic products are tested with alternative methods instead of animals such as rabbits, mice, and guinea pigs like in past, and these methods are accepted to be credible all around the world. Alternative methods are listed this way:

• Radiological visualizing techniques
• Population studies
• Clinical studies
• In-vitro techniques
• Micro-dose studies
• Computer Modeling
• Advanced mathematics
• Chip organs
• Model mannequins and models
• Microorganisms
• Cell cultures with 2 or 3 dimensions

Essence Of the Issue

Especially the bond that you have made with Ralph is very impressive, your sharing and being the precursor of others not even being aware is a great interaction. However, sometimes we cannot take action adequately. Ralph was all of the animations, realities are even louder than the call of Ralph to you. What Ralph was saying, “If animal testing did not exist, I would be in a field just like a ‘normal rabbit.’”. After hearing that, let us not use the products that are done animal-testing anymore. But there is a problem, which is saving Ralph from testing may not be enough. We may need to take a step to save all animals. Just as the expression of others, “We may need to compromise ourselves”. But since we will be doing what must be done, we may learn not to doubt about that too. Now I am asking the main question, can we empathize with Sheep Ralph just like we did with Rabbit Ralph and take an action?