The Fundamentals of Animal Testing

By: Emily Guiles

Animal testing has a large history and it has only been in recent years that organizations have started to take a stand against it. For Cara Moon this started at Northern Biomedical facility that used to be located on Sherman Blvd. and is now located on Pontaluna Dr. Moon is the leader of an organization against animal testing called Stop Animal Exploitation Now or S.A.E.N. for short.

Moon organized protests at the prior Sherman facility in 2009 and now orchestrates protests once a month at the new facility on Pontaluna. Moon’s turnout for the protests varies from 10- 20 participants, but she never lacks support. Supporter Less Truman was present at a recent protest and has been present at 2-3 other protests at the same location. Truman expressed his concerns for the safety of the animals that are being experimented on and stated that more humane measures should be put into place regarding animal testing. The Animal Welfare Act in one of the only laws that protects animal rights when it comes to testing, however there are still animals that are exempt from their protection. Lab animals such as rats, mice, birds, and many other species have been eliminated from all safeguards. Another protestor by the name of Joanne King said that her mission in protesting the Northern Biomedical facility was to bring awareness to animal rights and animal testing in general.

The president of operations at Northern Biomedical is Robert Boyd, who was in touch with Moon in her prior endeavors at the Sherman facility in 2009. Boyd even offered Moon a tour of the facility to see how the animals are treated, but when she did not shut down her operation she was denied entry.

There are no real restrictions in place to dictate what can be done to an animal in a research situation. During experiments animals can be subjected to; addictive drugs, electro shock, food and water deprivation, isolation, severe confinement, caustic chemicals, burning, blinding etc.