Write like a Biker

For me writing is like a child learning how to ride a bike. They have seen tons of people riding around and this may even look easy to him. We all know bike riding is super fun, going as fast as you can, with the wind blowing in your face. No cares in the world as their riding down the street. Finally, after watching enough people he has the courage to try it.

This child will get on the bike a little unsteady at first, as he tries to get his balance. He starts out slow, not exactly sure how to maneuver everything. He puts his foot down a lot to prevent himself from falling. Everyone around him reassures that he can do it “Just keep trying”. He tries again; he is going to do this with all his determination. Here he goes, with a big push he is off but, he starts to get a little overly confident and falls hard.

He is crying, and a little hurt that he didn’t make it very far but, he takes a deep breath. He knows that in order to ride his bike with everyone else on the street, he has to do this. He gets up one more time and gives one last push. His balance is good, looking straight ahead. He is ready to take on the world. The peddling starts he has got this. Everything is lined up perfectly for him to just keep on riding.

He hits a few bumps in the road but comes through them like it was nothing. He has finally mastered riding this bike. He can now be free to just ride with the wind in his hair and no cares in the world, tune out everyone’s tips and words of encouragement, and just ride for himself. Children fall or get off track when ridding their bike, but somehow they always find a way to get up and keep on going.

I feel my writing is like riding a bike because I am nervous to start,I try, and I fall. With the encouragement from friends and family I get the determination to keep on going.

Animal Testing Video Post

This is another reason for animal testing. Bart Weetjens has trained rats to detect land minds and Tuberculosis. His training is not invasive and does not harm the animals. He says that at least 6,000 people have died each year from land mind incidents. Rats are also less of a cost investment. You can train rats at 1/5 the cost that you can train dogs.  His results from rats detecting TB are much more outstanding.  Testing for TB patients through the microscope is only 40%-60% accurate. Rats start out at a 60% accurate detection rate. Did you know that one TB positive patient that goes undiagnosed can infect at least 15 more people? With 1.9 million people dying worldwide each year, this new testing is found to be not only cost effective but also faster. Microscopic testing can only be done at about 40 slides per working day, while rats can detect 7 cases (slides) per minute.  I think Bart is on his way to helping people worldwide. PLease use the link to discover what I did.

http://www.ted.com/talks/bart_weetjens_how_i_taught_rats_to_sniff_out_land_mines.html

summary post

More people are coming to the conclusion that animal testing is a program we need, to further medical research. A portion of these people agree with the testings’ as long as the care and treatment is kept to a high standard. However, there are still many that believe the testing is inhumane, unnecessary, and repetitive. The article After Recent Gains, Activists are Now Under Attack by Marc Leepson will explore many issues from both sides of the table. Such as, abuse with testing, alternatives for testing, and the legal protection of the animals while in captivity. With the current situation between animal rights/welfare groups and the science community coming to a constant wall in their road. The situation between both groups is unclear if they will ever come to a common decision whether to work together or keep working against each other.

Laboratories around the world test on millions of animals each year. Most of these tests are for scientific purposes such as cancer treatments, safety of pharmaceuticals, or pregnancy issues. Many of the medical breakthroughs of the past century resulted from research using laboratory animals (Leepson). Some animals do suffer physical or mental pain but the medical outcome surpasses the pain that might be, only for a short time. Most Americans accept the use of animals in scientific research as a necessity. However, some animal welfare activists are more concerned about the humane treatment of animals than the debate over their rights.

There are many different types of animal rights and animal welfare groups such as, The Humane Society of the United States, and PETA. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has been known to be a much more extreme group. They are known for infiltrating laboratories and destroying important medical research, which had taken years to compile just to free these animals. Some members have also set fire to medical labs causing hundreds of thousands of dollars. PETA’s co-founder has said “the only difference between humans and other animals is a difference of degree, not kind”. What he means is we are all living things with feelings, and emotions, just in a different way. All animal rights groups have the same common goal. To make sure researchers only use these animals where there is not another reliable alternative, eliminate unnecessary tests and pain, and to provide the public with their plan for the treatment of their animals.

Researchers say the number of animals used in research has come down in recent years (leepson). This decrease could be due to some of the new found alternatives. With technology becoming more and more advanced we are finding there could be possible alternatives to animal testing. However, some scientists say these alternatives would have to be in combination with the animal testing. There currently is not enough information to rely on with the alternative testing alone just yet. Some biomedical research is done alternatively “in vitro” or through test tubes. This also has lessened the need for many animals in the lab. Some scientists actually prefer this way because they can calculate the correct amount of chemicals they need. This method is only a short term alternative because, not all tests can be answered through the test tube and still would rely on a living test subject in the end.

Many of the animal welfare/rights groups have been the founders and contributors of our animal rights acts today. The first attempt to ban experiments on animals was in 1880 which proved to be no success. By the late 19^th century every state had enacted some form of legislation to protect animals. After World War II many of these groups succeed in bringing attention to the treatment of laboratory animals. This again was a short fall because of the medical breakthrough of the polio vaccine, an early cancer treatment, and the advancement in heart surgery (leepson). Currently we only have one law that was passed in 1966 regulating the care and treatment of laboratory animals. This law has been amended several times from 1970 to lastly in 1985 to include animals in zoos, circuses, and other exhibits.

There are two lobbying groups to defend the use of animals in laboratories. These groups were founded to oppose the legislation that would restrict animal testing of biomedical and consumer products. The secretary of Health and Human services Constance Horner said “We must not permit a handful of extremists to deprive millions of the life-sustaining and life-enhancing fruits of biomedical research”. This in turn would mean that we should not deprive ourselves of medical possibilities for our future, from a select amount of people who disagree with animal testing. These lobbyists want to work with the animal rights groups to write the laws and standards that protect animals in laboratories. They also want to help to protect the scientists and workers in these fields from harmful action that may come about from the animal rights groups. Which many young scientists and doctors were refusing to undertake needed research from pressure from the activists. This lobbying group’s main goal is to inform the public about why there is a need for such testing, and to openly speak about the treatment of these animals while in the care of a laboratory.

Controversial Issue

Hello, my controversial issue is going to be on animal testing, or animal rights. Animal rights movements have been an ongoing issue since the early 1900’s. Most do agree that animal testing is okay to do to a point. However, there are different forms of animal rights. Some people believe that animal testing is okay to do as long as it is done humanely, and their care is kept up on. Others believe that animal testing should not be done at all because they have “feelings”. These people are the ones scientists have said are humanizing animals.

I chose this topic because the veterinary field is what I am going into. This issue is going to be one of many issues I will have to face personally, and I want to know more about this topic. For one I am an animal lover with two dogs and a guinea pig. I want to know that animals are just not getting put through pain for the simple sale of a tube of lipstick.

Over the summer I was actually interviewed to work in an animal research lab. During this interview I found out a lot of information that changed the way I looked at animal testing. While there I was offered a tour of the building. I thought it was hard to see these animals, some of which had no hair, stiches, and were in casts. I came to find out that these animals (mostly mice, rats, and bunnies) although going through the pain of different procedures were extremely well taken care of. The bunnies I encountered actually had an hour of play time in a secluded grassy spot outside. I don’t even think an average bunny owner does that. The staff was very strict that all animals had “enrichment time”. While there I also learned that the animals were ONLY being testing for pharmaceuticals and procedures that matched a CURRENT patients needs.

I am sure there are many reasons why the world tests on animals. With this paper I hope to have a more definitive idea on these different reasons, the benefits, outcome, and procedures. I am excited and hope to learn a lot.

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Hello All

Hello, this is Carrie. This is my third semester at OCC. I plan on obtaining my Associates in Applied Science here, and then attending Michigan State University to become a Veterinarian. Animals and of course my daughter are my passion. I currently have two dogs a golden retriever, and a black lab Dalmatian mix. We also just got a guinea pig named Ginners (can you tell my daughter Olivia named it).

I love being back in school so far. It will be a very long and hard road but I am up for the challenge.

Happy blogging

P.S I hope I am doing this right :#)