Animal Research ~ Why Animal Research is Important to Animals and Humans

Neither the scientists and their animal care staff nor the public can overestimate how important research animals are to our survival and to the health and survival of our pets.

Do you know anyone who has diphtheria, hepatitis, Lyme disease, measles, polio, rabies, rubella, whooping cough, tetanus, or pneumococcal pneumonia?

Probably not! Why? Because vaccines have been developed through animal research to stop these diseases.

Do you know anyone being treated for allergies, birth defects, cancer, childhood poisonings, diabetes, emphysema, high blood pressure, kidney disease, malaria, organ transplants, or stroke? Or anyone who has had to take anesthesia or antibiotics?

Without animal research, we would have no treatments like these.

In fact, animal research is helping us learn more and more about treating diseases and conditions like AIDS, allergies, Alzheimer's disease, birth defects, blindness, burns, cancer, diabetes, emphysema, epilepsy, glaucoma, heart disease, Huntington's disease, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, malnutrition, open heart surgery, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, and tooth and gum disease, to name a few.

But animal research doesn’t just benefit humans; many, many animals are living longer and healthier lives thanks to research.

Welfare and Care of Research Animals

You may wonder about the laboratory conditions for these heroes, our research animals. Institutions that conduct animal research have strict federal regulations that they follow to ensure the humane use, care, and welfare of these animals. Accurate results from animal research require that animals are healthy and well cared for. That is why scientists who work with these animals are committed to making sure their animal partners are treated as humanely as possible.

Click here for a long list of health contributions – to both humans and animals – of animal research.