Is Animal Testing Really that Bad?

Many times in a given year, one can turn on the television and see a familiar scene: people picketing in protest of animal testing. It is not out of the ordinary to see the pickets turn into riots and become destructive. And for what? To try to stop the advancement of medical knowledge? Yes, it's true that some animals will be hurt, and yes, some will die. The byproduct of this, however, is priceless, as …

…medicines and treatments we have would be unknown to us. "One of the terrifying effects of the effort to restrict the use of animals in medical research is that the impact will not be felt for years and decades: drugs that might have been discovered wont be, and fundamental biological processes that might have been understood will remain mysteries" (Vesterman 86). I think that is enough of a reason to continue animal testing all in itself.