Where’s Your Money Going?

“Cancer Research UK raises £1 Million in 24 Hours, Thanks To No Make Up Selfies”

Cancer Research UK has had a massive boost in donations over the past few days thanks to their “No Make-Up Selfies” trending over Facebook, but how many of the people who have taken part in this trend actually realize

where their precious donations are being spent?

Each year, millions of animals are tested on for human diseases and their cures, and where is it getting us? We are no closer to finding the cure for cancer than we was years ago. Rats, Mice, Cats, Dogs, Primates, Fish, Birds and large mammals such as Cows, Sheep and Pigs are used in medical research each year. In 2010 alone 3,724,726 scientific procedures involving animals took place in the UK. Many charities do and will continue to spend your donations on cruel and useless animal tests and experiments.

For the animals used in tests and experiments life is nothing but grim, they spend their whole life locked away in small barren cages, never seeing the light of day. Rodents are locked away in small cages piled up on top of each other as if they are tools. Animals just like us humans have wants and desire and I doubt any animal desires a life of torture and abuse.

As millions of animals thrive to be free, they can’t fight their way out of the laboratories that hold them captive, unfortunately all they can do is sit in small confined spaces and wait… Wait in fear of the next terrifying and painful procedure that will be cruelly preformed on them. Many of the animals develop neurotic behaviours due to all the stress and boredom they suffer from. Some of these behaviours include repeatedly spinning around in circles, rocking back and forth and even pulling their own hair out or biting their skin.

Cancer Research UK

From 2009/2010 Cancer Research UK had a annual income of £515 Million and their expenditure on animal experiments and testing totalled £308 Million but why is this, Cancer Research UK are one of the biggest charities fighting for a cure for cancer, however they are depending on the use of animals. Animals and humans react differently to both drugs and illness, many of the animals used to test for cures reject the cancer tumours in the first place. A fact that the charity themselves know. In 2003 a study compared the value of 3 cancer models, mouse xenografts of human cells, mouse cell tumours grafted into mice, and human in vitro cell lines and the study found that the human cells were of equivalent usefulness to mouse xenografts. So why are we still testing on animals when there is alternatives?

Reliable?

“Nine out of ten drugs that appear promising in animal studies go on to fail in human clinical trials”

Due to the difference between animals and ourselves many of the drugs and cures discovered by animal testing work great on the animal it is tested on, however once transferred to humans 1 out of 10 actually work. Previously many drugs that have been released into the market for humans that were tested on animals have had to be pulled back due to unforeseen side effects. Below is a list of disasters in human life due to animal testing and the lack of results.

Smoking was though non-carcinogenic because smoking related cancer is difficult to reproduce in lab animals. Many continued to smoke and die from Cancer.

Animal experiments on Rats, Hamsters, Guinea Pigs, Mice, Monkeys and Baboons revealed no link between glass fibres and cancer. Not until 1991, due to human studies, did OSHA label it carcinogenic

.

Many continued to be exposed to asbestos and die because scientists could not reproduce the Cancer in lab animals.

Mitoxantrone, a treatment for cancer produced heart failure in humans. It was extensively tested on dogs, which did not manifest this effect.

The above are just examples of how animal testing has failed, and due to this caused possibly millions of deaths amongst humans as well as useless death to millions of animals. Cancer therapies based on animal testing have an astonishing fail rate of 95% in phase III clinical trials.

In an email to Animal Aid, Cancer Research UK used 3 examples of how animal testing has helped fight against cancer. The Breast Cancer drug Tamoxifen drugs that effect the blood supply to tumours (including the novel drug Combreastatin) and work on the P53 gene pathway. However due to 95% of cancer drugs failing in humans Animal Aid discovered that the drugs which cut off blood supply to tumours have not been a clinical success and that the development of Tamoxifen was complicated by misleading data from animal experiments. Furthermore the P53 Gene Pathway research has only led to one drug being introduced in China, which effects are also highly contested.

Who To Donate To?

I am not saying that donating your precious hard earned money to charities in order to help advance human cures for terrible diseases that kill and effect millions each year, but what I do believe in is donating to charities who do not spend millions of pounds each year. There are various charities out there that are fighting the battle against Cancer without destroying millions of animals’ lives each year. These charities include:

Action Cancer

The Big C

Force Cancer Charity

The Heaven

Macmillan Cancer Support

Marie Curie Cancer Care

New Approaches To Cancer

Together Against Cancer

I understand that many of us go through life and we will be effected by Cancer, I myself lost my granddad to cancer and I am thankful to all of the organisations that offered help to him and the family whilst going through tough times. I believe that one day we will beat cancer, but it doesn’t need to be tested on Animals when there are many safer and more reliable alternatives.