Animal research has played a vital role in virtually every major medical advance of the last century, for both human and animal health. From the discovery of antibiotics, analgesics, anti-depressants, and anesthetics, to the successful development of organ transplants, bypass surgery, heart catheterization, and joint replacement, practically every present-day protocol for the prevention, control, and cure of disease is based on knowledge attained through research with laboratory animals. More than half of the Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine have been given for research involving animals. 

Since 1900, modern medicine and public health have boosted the average lifespan in United States by almost 30 years. Much of this progress came from knowledge gained through animal research. Many diseases that once killed millions of people every year are now either preventable, treatable, or have been eradicated altogether. The survival rates for many other major diseases are at an all-time high thanks to the discovery of powerful new drugs, the development of new surgical procedures, and the design of sophisticated medical devices. Research with animals has played a critical role in nearly all of these advances.

 

Animal Research Helps Animals Too

Animal research has also paid incalculable benefits to animals. It has resulted in many remarkable lifesaving and life-extending treatments for cats, dogs, farm animals, wildlife, and endangered species. Pacemakers, artificial joints, organ transplants, and freedom from arthritic pain are just a few of the breakthroughs made in veterinary medicine thanks to animal research. Dogs, cats, sheep, and cattle are also living longer and healthier lives thanks to vaccines for rabies, distemper, parvo virus, hepatitis, anthrax, tetanus, and feline leukemia. New treatments for glaucoma, heart disease, cancer, hip dysplasia, and traumatic injuries are saving, extending, and enhancing the lives of beloved pets while advanced reproductive techniques are helping to preserve and protect threatened and endangered species.