1) Scientists defend animal testing as necessary for advancing scientific research and developing new drugs. While some see it as inhumane, researchers argue it is conducted humanely and any harm to animals is minimized. 2) Prof. Rhonda Rosengren, who tests drugs to treat breast cancer, states unequivocally that her work would not be possible without experimenting on animals like mice and rats. 3) Though animal testing can be stressful, researchers follow strict ethics guidelines to minimize harm to research animals and ensure experiments will provide useful results. The number of animals used in New Zealand has also declined significantly in recent years.

1. HUMANS AND OTHER SPECIES
PRO ANIMAL TESTING
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
CAMBRIDGE IGCSE P4

2. SCIENTISTS DEFEND TESTING ON ANIMALS
They can be your best friend or even considered a member of the family.
But every year in New Zealand hundreds of thousands of animals are used
for scientific research purposes, and two Otago academics who have
experimented on animals say science could not progress without them.

4. PROF. RHONDA ROSENGREN
As an undergraduate student in Texas, Prof Rhonda Rosengren worked in a
university animal laboratory, and spent her time cleaning out baboon cages
and travelling to remote pounds to collect stray dogs for scientific research
purposes.
''Driving around Texas picking up emaciated dogs from run-down pounds
was a horrible job, but someone had to do it. And it's a huge problem -
these pounds don't have the facilities to humanely put down animals. So
will we let them suffer or will we give their life a purpose?'' said Prof.
Rosengren, who is head of the pharmacology and toxicology department at
the University of Otago.

5. DRUGS TO TREAT BREAST CANCER
Prof. Rosengren, who is testing drugs to treat breast cancer, was adamant she
would not have been able to conduct her work and test new medicines
without experimenting on animals - in her case mice and rats.
Testing on animals was the crucial step between experimenting and
developing a new drug for humans, she said.
''I am against bad research. And I am strongly against bad research with
animals. People want to debate numbers and say 'oh this number is too high'.
But it is not about numbers; it is about how you design your experiment. To
work with animals you have to minimise harm to them, manage their pain
and ensure an outcome will be reached at the conclusion of your work. If you
can't ensure those factors you will not be approved by the Animal Ethics
Committee to experiment on animals. They are very, very tough.''

6. FACTS
According to the National Animal Ethics Advisory Committee's 2013 annual
report, 224,048 animals were reported as ''manipulated in research, testing
and teaching'' in 2013, a drop of 25.9% since 2012, and the lowest recorded
number since 1997.

7. STRESSFUL AND DEMANDING WORK
Dr Mike King, a lecturer at the Bioethics Centre at Otago University,
experimented on pigs during his PhD, and said the work could be ''stressful''
and ''demanding''.
''I think everyone involved in using animals in research, or opposing animals in
research, agrees that it is not a morally neutral thing to use animals. But I
don't think it is reasonable to oppose all animal research. Some animal
research is beneficial to animals. And some animal research is observational
and very low impact.''

8. EXPERIMENTS ON PIGS
Globally, animal research was moving away from
testing on highly evolved animals such as
primates, Dr King said.
Scientists often found themselves in an ''odd''
position caring for research animals ''like pets''
but then doing things to them that ''may be
harmful or kill them. That is a difficult head
space for those of us who aren't in science to
understand.
When it was revealed that Otago scientists had
been conducting experiments on pigs by
shooting them in the head to study blood
splatter, there was an outcry in New Zealand.

10. STATS - EXPERIMENTS ON PIGS IN NZ
Dr King has looked into the numbers of pig deaths in New Zealand and said
the number used for scientific purposes was ''tiny'' compared with the number
killed for their meat.
The latest available data from the Ministry for Primary Industries shows that
from October 2008 to September 2009, 689,000 pigs were killed for meat
production in New Zealand. Dr King said in the same year only 995 pigs were
used for scientific purposes.
''When I heard about the pig experiment I didn't share the outrage that the
people protesting it felt,'' Dr King said.

11. STATS - EXPERIMENTS ON PIGS IN NZ
Clearly it looks terrible when you see photos of a pig being shot in the head,
but then if you look closely you see it was an anaesthetised pig.
''It was obtained from a butcher and rendered unconscious in an experimental
setting, so that is a better way to die than the more than 600,000 going to
slaughter, which wouldn't have experienced as refined a process as that, he
said. There are humane ways you can kill an animal and if you haven't done
that, you're done. Your study is done - it won't see the light of day,'' Prof
Rosengren said.