Editor:
In the recent letter to the editor by Pulin Modi (“Consider the wisdom of common sense,” Jan. 11), one of Modi’s arguments against animal testing is that animals are not humans and cannot therefore be used to evaluate human medical needs: “…animal testing is based on faulty science. When you get sick, you go to a doctor, not a veterinarian.
So then why would experimenting on animals help to find solutions to people’s afflictions?”
By the same argument, testing new medical products and techniques could only be done on humans, if humans are so unique. But surely a socially conscious individual like Modi would agree that using untested products and techniques on humans is unethical. It leaves me to wonder what other solution to medical innovation Modi would propose.
The “animals” are not people, therefore, the “don’t test products intended for people on animals”
argument doesn’t work. I didn’t find it to be “common sense” at all.
Mara Haslam
Ph.D. student, Linguistics