THE MYTHS OF ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION
Bernhard Rambeck, MD
Myth 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / Intro
Tenth myth: "The abolition of animal experiments is not possible"
This myth, which is repeated again and again by the defenders of animal research, is one of the pillars of the conservation of the animal experimental system. The belief that animal research can at most be reduced to a "necessary extent" but never totally abolished, leads to fruitless discussions about the extent and degree of replaceable or dispensable animal experiments and detracts from the basic problems of the animal-research system.
The opportunity to abolish animal research is today greater than ever before. The movement against vivisection is increasingly becoming a part of the ecological movement, which is concerned with the terrible damage which man in his arrogance has caused. Critics of animal research, together with other ecological groups, strive against the unlimited exploitation of nature and understand our eco-system to be a very easily disturbed and in many ways inter-connected system.
It is of the highest significance that the motivation of the critics of animal experiments has changed. Whereas the animal itself, and the pitiless treatment of it, was earlier the focus of attention, critics of vivisection now underline the fact that man damages himself most of all by the heedless exploitation of animals. A medical system which is based on animal exploitation, with all its consequences, means that man is more and more removed from his declared and wished-for aim - namely, the comprehensive healing of body and soul.
Is the abolition of animal experimentation possible? I do not only believe it - I know it! Either man succeeds in creating a new consciousness of the multiple network existing within nature and then dispenses voluntarily with vivisection, gene technology and the use of nuclear technology (because of its enormous capacity for inflicting darme and danger), or nature abolishes man, together with his anizical experiments. Mankind still has the choice! Man still has the possibility of stopping the unlimited exploitation of our planet, with all its living beings, and of abolishing vivisection in his own interest.
In conclusion: I am strongly convinced that animal experimentation is not only a cruel and thus unethical method, but it is also an unscientific method, which, in the interests of man and animals, must be abolished as quickly as possible and replaced by reasonable and humane methods.
Myth 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / Intro