Rats!

     M y new topic is product testing on rats. I think that a human life out weighs the life of a rat. Rats are used in lab tests for many reasons. Some reasons are: they frequently reproduce, they have similarities to human biology, and they cause damage to humans and crops. Rats and mice are used in 90% of animal testing. Personally, I don't think testing products are rats or mice is that bad. On the other hand, testing on any other species of animals is wrong.

Animal testing has helped create vaccines, antibiotics, and some operations. A few vaccines that were tested on rats were Polio, Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Tuberculosis. Many antibiotics, such as HIV drugs, insulin, and cancer treatments are tested on rats. Also, operations such as open heart surgery and organ transplants have been performed on rodents, such as mice and rats. Rats and mice are also used in over 95% of product testing and are used to teach biology, medical, and veterinarian students.

Animals such as rats are frequently used in product testing because they reproduce quickly. This is useful because scientists can see the affects on children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in a matter of days. If you were to test a product on a human it would take years to see the effects on children and it could possibly harm the baby. Rats reproduce every 21-24 days and have about 20 babies. To see the effects on children it would only take about a month or so. Would you rather have a product tested on you or your children or a rat and its any children.

Did you know that Rats damage one-fifth of the world's food crop each year? Rats live off humans and we get nothing in return from them. Rats contaminate food, spread disease, infiltrate homes and live in our garbage. The most damage they cause is in contamination. Two rats shed more than one million body hairs each year and a single rat leaves 25,000 droppings in a year. All of those hairs and droppings transmit diseases like typhus fever, salmonella, tuberculosis, bacterial food poisoning, and rabies. These rats deserve to be exterminated or used for our own good by testing on them.

I am for rat testing because they frequently reproduce, they cause damage to humans and crops, and have similarities to human biology. Rats eat our food and invade our homes, and yet people are against testing on rats! They deserve to be tested on or exterminated!