A cat with a screw embedded in its skull. Chemicals dropped into the taped-open eyes of dogs. Monkey brains electrocuted, dissected, torn apart... while still alive. This is what we do in the name of science and human preservation. But the question is: Are we the animals, or do we do it for the greater good?

Imagine for one minute, that your dog's eyelids are taped to its skull and a man in a white coat is dripping something that burns like fire into its eyeballs. It tries to scream but it can't. All it knows is the excruciating pain. Imagine your cat having screw bolted into its head. Imagine your adorable pet guinea pig getting its legs paralysed from goodness-knows-what test.

It is a horrifying thing to imagine, and one that seems almost removed from us - but with the recent proposal for the construction of an animal testing lab here, Malaysians are faced with the reality of animal testing.

Animal lovers and animal rights groups have come out strong against the proposed joint-owned animal testing lab, between India's Vivo Biotech and state-owned Melaka Biotech. This lab is said to cost RM 450 million, and is proposed to be built in Melaka for primary clinical tests on canines, primates and small mammals.

Articles soon surfaced on the cruelty that happens in such labs in other parts of the world: Cats with screws bolted into their skulls, rabbits in cramped, miserable conditions a-waiting the next prodding and poking, monkeys experimented upon so extensively that they are practically brain dead.

In addition to that, a local minister's response aggrieved animal lovers; he said that animals were put on earth to be tested upon, and it is eventually their fate to be used for human benefit.

Still, while there have been no further updates on the lab, a state-level committee has been formed to discuss this issue at length.

Animal Testing: Necessary or Not?

Ashley Fruno, Senior Campaigner at PETA Asia, said: "If Malaysians knew what really occurs in these laboratories, they wouldn't support its construction."

"Animals' lives in laboratories consist solely of deprivation, isolation, and misery. Animals are routinely infected with diseases that they would never normally contract, and they are cut open, burned, starved, driven insane, poisoned, and killed," she detailed.

"They are deprived of everything that is natural and important to them-the companionship of other animals, fresh air, freedom to run and climb, and the ability to make even the simplest choices about their lives. After months, years, and sometimes decades of being poked at and prodded, most animals in laboratories are killed."

She stressed that PETA Asia will continue to campaign on behalf of all animals in Malaysia, including those used for cruel experimentation. They will continue to write, demonstrate, and raise awareness on the issue, and hope that compassionate Malaysians will boycott these animal laboratories and products that use animals for experimentation.

"Fortunately, thanks to advances in technology and non-animal research methods, human diseases (and other medical concerns) can increasingly be studied in human volunteers, computer models, human tissue, and human populations. These sophisticated alternatives to animal tests are faster, safer, and less expensive."

This is crucial, because animals are just as much part of the world as we are, and they deserve better, said Jason Baker, Director of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Asia.

"We must face the simple moral principle that we do not have the right to manipulate and kill animals for our own purposes. Animals do not belong to us, and they value their lives just as much as we value ours," said Baker via an email interview.

"As we learn to treat one another with kindness and respect, we should remember to extend the same compassion to animals. Like us, animals feel pain, fear, sadness, love, joy, and an array of other complex emotions. With that in mind, PETA Asia operates under the belief that animals are not means to our ends-that they are not ours to use for food, clothing, entertainment, experimentation, or any other purpose."

This is something that has to be learnt, and it is with education and nurturing that people can come to realise the cruelty that goes on in such labs.

"We believe that cruelty to animals is not inherent, but learned. That being said, teaching kindness and respect for animals-in our schools and homes-will foster empathy, the ability to understand what someone else feels," he added. "Incorporating the simple concepts of kindness and respect into our daily lives and teaching our children to respect and protect even the smallest and most despised among us will help kids value one another."

Thanuja Ananthan, reigning Miss Malaysia World 2009/2010, is a self-professed animal lover and a PETA ambassador. She has come out strong against any action that will cause harm and suffering in an animal.

"People need to look at animals as one of us - sentient beings with their own feelings and thoughts. They are life forces - another life. We as the superior beings need to protect the animals. There is so much more at play here - animal rights in Malaysia is still non-existent, rules and regulations need to be amended."

"There are alternatives available - human tissue cultures or computer models," she adds. "Animal testing is cruel, and in many instances, unnecessary. Would you test on your baby? Well, think of an animal as a baby and things look different. If you wouldn't test on human beings then neither should you test on animals."

Alternatives to Animal Testing

Gleaning information from the PETA website at www.peta.org, human clinical and epidemiological (study of factors affecting the health and illness of populations) studies, studies on corpses, and computer simulations are faster, more reliable, less expensive, and more humane than animal tests; a fact which seems to make animal test arguments obsolete.

Ingenious scientists have also used human brain cells to develop a model 'microbrain' that can be used to study tumors and have also come up with artificial skin and bone marrow. Instead of killing animals, scientists can now test irritancy on egg membranes, produce vaccines from cell cultures, and perform pregnancy tests using blood samples.

The choice isn't between animals and people, it is stated. There is no guarantee that drugs are safe-even if they have been tested on animals-because of the anatomical differences between humans and other animals.

However, the fact remains that over the years, advancements in medical research and medical cures for a multitude of human ailments have resulted from animal testing. Various surgical procedures thought impossible were found to be viable thanks to procedures performed on animals.

The first vaccines against anthrax, diphtheria, polio, malaria and rabies all came from animal testing and research. According to 'Science, Medicine and Animals', from the National Academies Press (United States), much of mankind's medical breakthroughs and cures are made possible through necessary animal testing.

Based on information taken from the United States National Academy of Sciences's online resources, many articles have raised the question of necessity versus ethics.

One article suggests that the proposed alternatives will never eliminate the use of animals for medical research, and each of these alternatives have limitations - a computer model, for example, has yet to reach the level of technology to have 100 per cent efficacy, and cell testing cannot aid in certain surgical procedures. Animals will always be used to further benefit human beings in all areas.

Another proposes that tests that are done to animals to save millions of human lives are necessary, but on condition that the animals are not made to suffer, or be mistreated and tortured; though this cannot be applied to tests of drugs, vaccines, or chemicals on animals.

The issue of animal testing is one that comes with many different sides, arguments and opinions. We as humans consume meat, wear leather or fur quite comfortably, and we benefit so greatly from the use of animals in medical testing - yet we are horrified and disconcerted by the happenings inside such laboratories.

The conclusion, then, is that the real challenge now is to find means and ways to perform non-animal tests and ensure that animals will not be harmed, killed or made to suffer.

While medical research is crucial, cruelty towards animals is not - because to be human and humane are not always mutually inclusive.