Rabbits are sometimes used in animal testing.
Animal testing is frequently regarded as an unnecessary cruelty by animal rights' activists. There are a number of reasons people consider animal testing to be cruel.
Cages
Although researchers keep their animals exercised and fed, they are still kept in cages or pens that are much smaller than their natural habitat would be.
Pain
Animals are often tested in ways that cause them direct physical pain, despite being given palliative medication to relieve the pain. According to Do Something, almost half a million animals were involved in painful tests during 2002.
Irritants
A good deal of animal testing is cosmetic, which means that animals are injected with irritating chemicals or have cosmetic items applied to their skin. The effects of this type of testing can be disfiguring or fatal.
Significance
More than a million animals were used for various types of testing in both 2005 and 2006, according to the Humane Society of the United States' most recent report.
Euthanization
Once animals have been used for a period of testing, they are normally euthanized, according to Do Something's 11 Facts about Animal Testing. Killing animals after a lifetime of captivity and testing is seen as cruel.
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