Animal RightsThere is no fundamental difference between man and the higher animals in their mental faculties... Lower animals, like man, manifestly experience pleasure and pain, happiness and misery. —Charles Darwin, naturalist and writer (1809–1882) Animals have long been used for many purposes: food, fashion, entertainment, and experiments. However, in the modern civilization we live in today, we abuse the power we have over animals, exploiting them for unreasonable purposes. We have many alternatives that we can consider as substitutes for animals, such as clothes. For clothing you have access to cotton, acrylic, polyester, plastic and other materials. As for food, organic human foods can be considered, where animals do not suffer cruel treatment and are less harmful to the public. Finally, animals are tested on cosmetics, household products and drugs, to see the reaction they can cause on humans. Animals are enslaved, tortured, killed and exploited for human purposes every day. One of these purposes is for medicine. Each year, 50 to 100 million vertebrates, as well as more than 20 million mice and rats, are used in laboratory experiments in the United States. Many of these animals are bred specifically for laboratory use; others are acquired from animal brokers, wildlife shelters, pets, and both legal and illegal sources. (Research Problems,1) Animals were used for experiments in the early 1920s, after World War II. However, the downside of these experiments is that millions of animals are held captive and tortured. In addition to the negative factor, most drugs are... middle of paper... the effects and dangers of the substances to humans. Scientists, politicians and citizens increasingly recognize that animal experiments do not deliver what they promise and that their results are not directly applicable to humans. , the use of animal testing is cruel, unreasonable and harmful to humans. That relying on animal research and testing to improve human health is not only dangerous, but also unreliable, time-consuming, and expensive. We must take into consideration all the pain and suffering that animals experience every day for people. Instead of exploiting animals, we should take care of them and give them the right to live a life free from exploitation and suffering, which is what animal rights is all about.