The Horrors of Vivisection-Humanity's Shame

[Dr.Shenita Etwaroo]

The Horrors of Vivisection

By

Shenita Etwaroo

 

Vivisection refers to the surgery conducted on living organisms. In general, such surgeries are for experimental purpose. The animals here are subjected to heinous cruelties like sterility, isolation in laboratories cages and being subjected to tortures like slicing, jabbing, sticking, shocking, burning, poisoning, addicting,etc.

Anthropocentrism is deeply induced amongst our minds that in spite of living in a century which we called civilized and enlightened, we tend to show high regards for a rotting human carcass but fail to show empathy to innocent animals who share equal rights with us for survival and existence. This right of other living beings is often ignored by humans making them a subject of  inhumane atrocities. Behind the excuse of consumer products and medical research, these innocent speechless beings are infected, suffocated and burnt,etc.

Shame on the human race for this barbaric cruelty against animals!

Vivisection originated with the explanation that experimenting on live animals provides the surgeons with real life experience.This heinous crime and horror against the animal kingdom offer them the opportunity to operate speedily with confidence. The inexperienced surgeons continued to experiment on these live animals without fear of killing an individual.Though the use of anesthesia has been made mandatory for any surgical procedure capable of inducing pain in the living beings, it is often ignored with the excuse of “scientifically necessary”. With the lack of proper definition for such scientific necessities, it often becomes tough to regulate vivisection experiments.

In developed nations like U.S and U.K, there has been rising consciousness amongst the citizens about human and animal rights experiments involving Vivisection.However, in most of the countries of the globe where there exists mere respect for human rights, the awareness for animal rights and welfare cease to exist, and animals in those nations are subjected to horrendous tortures by greedy,cruel people.

Humanity's shame

The laws of the lands in most of the nations specifies the use of tranquilizers, anesthetics and analgesics before inducing pain on any living organism but the drug manufacturing organizations and mad scientists often tend to ignore such warnings. Every year, millions of helpless animals are dissected alive yet the cruel scientists behind such experiments fail to explain the moral and ethical issues lying behind the tortures and pains caused to the sentient creatures. The innocent primates, rabbits, dogs, cats, and rodents are made to undergo vivisection against their will for testing the feasibility of cosmetic products, medicines and other consumer products.

Till world war ІІ vivisection was prevalent even on human beings. The army of Japan and the Nazi Germany were notoriously performing live experimentations of prisoners of wars. However, the rises in human rights awareness after the Second World War compelled the nations to stop such atrocities towards human beings and since the sentient creatures have been the subject of such crimes.

Scientists practicing vivisection often claim that they must be allowed to practice live dissection. This provides them an opportunity to check the feasibility of products in a live environment. However, they often fail to substantiate the fact that what made them conclude that the drugs inducing certain impacts or being neutral towards rodents and primates will have a similar reaction even on humans? Though the community against vivisection have long been placing such arguments, the sadistic researchers which seems to go mad behind the bloodshed of these innocent creatures, seems to turn a deaf ear towards all these outcries being made.

Most of the times, these innocent animals are made to go under the knife without the administration of anesthesia. Many times, they are given local anesthesia to keep them conscious and making them witness the horrific surgeries being conducted on them. To make the reader witness the fear and the pain, these creatures undergo during vivisection let me highlight a real experiment before you all.

In 1664, Robert Hooke one of the pioneers of the Royal society and one of the eminent researchers of that era wanted to administer the procedures involved in breathing. He managed to get a stray dog and brought him to his table. With his scalpel, he sliced the animals to witness the details of the thoracic cavity. The dog was conscious and was extremely petrified with the developments. At this moment, Hooke realized he made a blunder. By slitting the animal’s chest, he has curbed his ability to breathe independently. So he pushed a hollow cane though its throat to its windpipe. The helpless dog was seeing Hooke performing all the experiments on his body, but the poor creature was properly strapped and unable to offer any resistance.

 

Hooke pumped air into the dog’s lungs for an hour while studying the way its organs expanded and contracted with the process. The dog was terrified by the brutal acts of cruelty and could only stared at Hooke in horror. After the experiment, Hooke wrote to Robert Boyle narrating his experiment. He explained how he opened the thorax, and cut off all the ribs of the animal. He further stated that he handled the other parts of the animal's body. Hooke was so deeply moved by the pain of that dog that he concluded his letter saying, "I shall hardly be induced to make any further trials of this kind, because of the torture of this creature".

This was one of the infinite cruelties being caused to the animal in the name of science by other mad scientists who have been conducting vivisection for ages.These cruel scientists have been trapping these precious creatures in their  laboratories of horror, making them go through hell daily. In the name of testing and trials, the mad scientists remain negligent about the pain and suffering caused to these creatures.

 

The poor souls who underwent indescribable tortures are hardly given any recognition for the milestones scientists have achieved through their suffering. At least, for being indebted towards them for the giant leap of advancements made in the field of human science and anatomy, we must now stop causing such cruelties towards them.

HAVE A HEART & Stop Animal Cruelty!

The period when we began vivisection was different, the science wasn’t so advanced those days, but today we have made many new developments and we are capable of creating exact replicas of the real scenario in our laboratories. There isn’t any necessity today to make the sentient creatures undergo a horrendous torture called vivisection. We must be considerate towards the pain and sufferings induced to these living creatures because of our acts and must explore the alternate ways available to carry on our experiments in the same pace, but in any scenario, the live butchering of these innocent creatures cannot be allowed with the excuse of development of the human race.

[1] http://thechirurgeonsapprentice.com/2011/08/29/dissecting-the-livin...

[1]  Letter from Robert Hooke to Robert Boyle (10 Nov 1664). In M. Hunter, A. Clericuzio and L. M. Principe (eds.), The Correspondence of Robert Boyle (2001), vol. 2, p. 399. I am indebted to Druin Burch for pointing me to this extraordinary story in Digging up the Dead (2007).

Say NO to CRUEL COSMETICS

Vivisection is wrong.

Testing on animals is no help to humans as animals have a different genetic make-up than humans.

Stop animal testing/cruelty now!

GET LOUD FOR ANIMALS!

Please take ACTION against Animal Testing and Animal Experimentation.Thank you.

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