How do you feel about animal research for medical purposes? What
about for cosmetic research? Karli Bulnes
Fourth-year, history
“I always think it’s good to make medical progress,
but at the same time, it’s a hard question to answer because
I love my dog, and if someone wanted to test something on him, I
would value his life. I guess I would approve of people testing on
sick animals, because then we would be using a negative thing for
something positive. But to go out and pick healthy animals off the
street for testing isn’t good. I would definitely say no to
cosmetic animal testing because it’s not necessary.
We’re not promoting mankind’s health by doing it and
it’s not moving forward for something necessary.” Chris
Lee
Second-year, history and psychology
“I think that it is better to sacrifice a few animal lives
for the betterment of humans. Basically, I’d rather see a
hundred monkeys die than see one person die of a preventable
illness that we could have found a cure for by testing on animals.
One human life is far more valuable than any animal. In terms of
testing on animals for cosmetic purposes, I think if you have
doubts about whether a cosmetic product is going to harm a person
and you have to test on an animal to see if it kills that animal,
you should probably just formulate a new product.” Diana
Brugman
First-year, chemical engineering
“I don’t really have much of an opinion either way.
I’m not for animal testing, but I’m not against it
either. I do think, however, that the people who are enraged over
animal testing totally blow things out of proportion. I guess, if
they don’t test the product on an animal and think it’s
safe and then give it to a human, who has bad side effects,
that’s not very good, and animal testing could prevent that
from happening. Most of the time they breed the animals to be
tested on, anyway. It’s not like they are going to the pet
store and picking up some dogs. For cosmetic purposes, I
don’t know why it is necessary to test makeup products on an
animal, that’s a little extreme.” Patricia Daza
Second-year, political science and philosophy
“I am for animal research for medical purposes because I
know it is the best way to really test certain drugs and
treatments. I would much rather have a rat get poked a little than
have my grandma die of breast cancer. To me, it will better
everyone, and as much as we would like to say that animals are
valued, personally I don’t think you can equate a human life
and an animal life. You have to put one over the other. I think it
is ridiculous, however, to test on animals for cosmetic purposes.
It doesn’t compare at all; research for oncology versus
dermatology are two completely different things.” Anthony
Solario
Fourth-year, sociology and history
“For medical purposes and advancement in medicine, I think
it is necessary and important to test on animals. For cosmetic
purposes, animal testing is very unnecessary, and I don’t see
any point in it at all. It is not something that is vital to
mankind, so the testing is not justified. But for the advancement
of medicine, I think it does a lot of good, especially in cancer
research where they can find something useful for a lot of people
suffering.” Compiled by Kelsey Hicks/Daily Bruin Senior
Staff, Photos by Daniel Feldman/Daily Bruin