Tatem Elementary School’s fifth grade student Philllip McFillin discusses what he’s learned about animal testing in his letter to the editor.
My name is Phillip McFillin, and my class and I have been thinking about argumentative essays. I was doing research on what to do, and I had no idea that according to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), 100 million animals die every year from animal testing. The list includes dog, cats, hamsters, monkeys and much more. They are INNOCENT ANIMALS, and they are locked in barren cages around the country, and most of them die in the United States for biology lessons, medical training, curiosity driven tests and chemical, drug, food and cosmetics testing. No one really wants suffering animals do they? I was stunned by these facts, so I did more research.
I learned many horrific things about products that use animals for testing. The products I found were: Arm and Hammer, Clorox, Comet, Febreze, Glade, Lysol, Tide, Windex and Vasoline. I realize many people in Haddonfield have these products, so I think we should boycott them until they stop the testing.
I think this problem should be fixed. As I said over 100 million animals are dying from some kind of abuse. That is not even counting the 90 percent of animals used in U.S labs that are not even counted in the animal statistics! That is crazy.
I know testing has contributed to many life saving cures and treatments, but 95 percent of the animals used are not protected by the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). We should at least try to protect them!
According to the AWA, 92 percent of experimental drugs used on animals fail on humans because they are too dangerous or do not work. The testing includes skin and eye irritation in tests where the chemicals are rubbed onto shaved skin or dripped into eyes of helpless rabbits with absolutely no pain relief. I don’t know about you, but I can’t live with myself knowing what happens during testing.
According to my research, it has been proven that many animals die every year from some kind of abuse. Animals are alive. They feel pain, and testing on them and abusing them makes them feel pain. Why would anyone want to hurt cute, helpless, little animals? If you agree, please stop buying the products I’ve listed until they stop testing on animals. If you’re ready to help, so am I!
Sincerely,
Phillip McFillin,
fifth grader at Tatem Elementary School
