As for the necessity of animal testing, I am not a scientist, so I’ll defer to those that know better than I. I suggest reading info from the Physician Committee for Responsible Medicine. As far back as 1997 they were proving that cell test were far more accurate than animal tests. This is why we are seeing a shift to stem cell research. The physiology of a rat is not the same as a human. PCRM showed that of 19 chemicals known to cause cancer in humans, only 7 caused cancer in standard animal tests. So 12 of those chemicals would have passed the standard safety test on animals and then gone on to cause cancer in humans. Does that make you feel safe?

Also, what about the large animal testing industry that tests cosmetic products, cleaning supplies, and other unnecessary items? What about the psychological experiments? There are a lot of things we could test, but we don’t because ethics tells us it is wrong (it is why most of us oppose experimentation on people with disabilities, for example). Why not expand that ethical standard to include all sentient beings? Because we are too lazy or cheap or stuck in our ways to use or find better, more ethical alternatives?