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Sharon Tang
Dr. Lynda Haas
Writing 39C
29 May 2016
Cognition and Animal Testing
INTRODUCTION
Have you even wondered about how the common household products or make up you use
is said to be safe? Growing up, I have never thought about the household products my mom
bought to use to clean the house or why so many people would recommend certain makeup
brands because of the simple no animal testing sticker. Dont get me wrong here, I knew growing
up that animal abuse was wrong but I did not know much about it. It could be because I didnt
start wearing makeup or cleaning my own room/apartment until I came to college. Little things
like this that, I just probably overlooked because they werent important to me. Now that I am
growing up, getting more into makeup and having to take care of myself, because I live so far
away from home, I start to hear and learn things as the days go on. I started seeing more of the
bad side of products, which were test on animals and how miserable it sounds to hear that
animals have to go through this pain. Over 100 million animals are used and killed for anything
from the purpose of cosmetic testing to experimentations in the United States each year
(Experiments on Animals: Overview).
If animals can have the ability to think like we as humans can, then why do we act like
we are more superior to them and treat them in such horrible conditions. In The Animal Mind
article from TIME magazine, by Jeffrey Kluger, starts off the article by saying, Animals have
brains, but do they have minds (Kluger 6). Cognition can be defined as a way of acquiring

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knowledge and understanding through different life experiences, senses and thoughts. There have
been many studies conducted to see if animals have cognitive ability to understand the world
around them. Some of the tests performed on these animals would be the Holeboard-box test and
the Morris Water Maze. Both of these test shows that animals do have cognitive ability to
understand the world around them, which leads to the problem about animal testing. Is it right to
test on animals that can think for themselves but cant speak to defend themselves against being
used as toys? There has been many discoveries in the past decade or even longer that we do not
have to subject animals to be used as toys any longer.
COMPLEX COGNITIVE SKILLS OF CATS
Cats have long existed along side humans for over thousands of years, but how much do
we actually know about the cognition of the cat? Kristyn R. Atsuko Saito and Kazutaka
Shinozuka, from the Department of Cognitive and Behavioral Science at the University of
Tokyo, conducted an experiment that involves 20 different cats to see if the cats can recognize
their owners voice. Saito and Shinozuka played three different human voices calling the cat
while it was in a room and the owner was not in sight of the cat. The cat responded to the
different voices by having different behavior changes, such as ear or head movements. The
results were that the cats were able to distinguish between the different humans and that it,
Suggests that domestic cats are able to recognize individual humans, who are not conspecifics,
through vocal communication as well as through face to face interaction (Saito, Shinozuka 4).
This shows that cats are able to recognize the different sounds of their owners voice without
having to see their owner face to face and it also shows signs of cognitive ability to recognize
their owner through their senses.

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Figure 1: Holeboard-Box Design For Testing Cognitive Function McCune, Sandra, Science
Direct

In agreement with Saito and Shinozuka, Sandra McCune, Joy Stevenson, Laura Fretwell,
and Amy Thompson of Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition, and along with Daniel Simon Mills,
first Professor of Veterinary Behavioral Medicine at University of Lincoln in the United
Kingdom, writes in the article, Ageing does not significantly affect performance in a spatial
learning task in the domestic cat, that age does not affect the learning in cats. The test that the
researches performed on the cat involved the Holeboard-box design, as pictured above in Figure
1. This design is used to see if cats have to ability to remember where the food was in three of
the cups on the side of the box within five minutes and have fewer than ten errors. In the second
part of this test, the food in the three different cups are covered with tissue paper to see if the cars
could still find the food with something blocking it within five minutes and have fewer than eight
errors. This test shows that cats have the ability to learn and their ability to learn is not even
affected by the age of the cat (McCune et. al. 1).
COGNITIVE SKILLS OF GUNIEA PIGS
In the article, Wild genius domestic fool? Spatial learning abilities of wild and
domestic guinea pigs by Lars Lewejohann, Department of Behavioural Biology at the

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University of Muenster in Germany, Thorsten Pickel, Norbert Sachser, and Sylvia Kaiser, is
about a test conducted on guinea pigs and wild cavies called the Morris water maze, which is
used to see the animals ability of spatial learning. The Morris water maze test, shown in Figure
2, is to see if the guinea pigs or the wild cavies can find the platform that is placed in the middle
of one of the four quadrants in the pool. The platform is hidden two centimeters below the water
surface and thirty centimeters away from the wall. The animals were placed into the water,
individually, to see how long it would take them to get to the platform. The animals would get 45
seconds to get to the platform before it was placed on the platform for fifteen seconds. The test
last five days and after that the animals were then placed back into the maze for sixty seconds
without the platform being inside, to see if the animals could remember which quadrant the
platform was in. The ones who spent most of the time in the quadrant that previously had the
platform remembered where it was while others that did not, just spent an equal amount of time
in the all of the quadrants. After this the platform was placed in the opposite quadrant that it use
to be in to see if the animals can relearn the new position of the platform. The results to these
tests were that the guinea pigs out performed the wild cavies. In the article it says that, Overall
our findings indicate that these animals are suitable for investigations of learning and memory
(Lewejohann et. al. 1). This shows that guinea pigs and wild cavies both have the ability to think
and remember on how to get the platform in the maze.

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Figure 2: The Morris Water Maze. Goldman, Jason G., Science Blog

COGNITIVE SKILLS OF RABBITS

In a paper, Cognition Without Concepts, written by Linda B. Smith, distinguished
professor and Chancellors Professor of Psychological and Brain Science at Indiana University
and Susan S. Jones, professor emeritus in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at
Indiana University, writes about the study of olfactory categories in rabbits from a study by W.J.
Freeman and his colleagues. The study was about the activity across groups of neurons in the
olfactory bulb, they found stable behavioral categories that emerged from dynamic and changing
patterns of activity (Smith and Jones 187). This study showed a rabbit connecting certain smell
with another different type of activity. An example written about in the paper was the rabbits
associating the smell of sawdust with the scent of banana. The rabbit had different behavioral
responses to the sawdust as before it learned about the scent of the banana. This shows that the
rabbits have an ability to remember the smell of one item to relate to the smell of another item.
This process of connecting scents with items is very similar to how people connect certain
smells, places, sounds and etc. to certain memories.
PROBLEMS OF ANIMAL TESTING

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Animal testing plays a very important part in many different types of research and
experimentations. Animal testing dates back as far as writing of the Greeks in the fourth and
third century BCE when it was first seen. In a video between Peter Singer, a well-known moral
philosopher, and Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist, Singer says, Theres nothing
so special about me that my suffering is more important than your suffering
or anyone else suffering or animals(Singer). Singer is saying that suffering is
suffering and there is not a different suffering for different species; we all feel pain and suffer in
the same way. Singer also mentions that humans should give equal consideration to the interest
of all beings (Singer). If humans can suffer, so can animals and if humans have a mind and have
a capability to think, then so do animals. If animals have the ability to think like humans do,
where do humans have the right to treat animals like just toys? Humans do not care about
animals if it has a benefit to them in any ways.
Guinea pigs were domesticated from the cavy about 400 years ago. Testing on guinea
pigs can date back as far as the 17th century. Guinea pigs are used mostly for skin sensitization
tests. Guinea pigs introduced to a chemical, which is introduced for a few days then is observed
about how it affected the guinea pigs. The guinea pigs are sometimes shaved so the chemicals
can be placed on their skin. Guinea pigs may only be tested with chemicals that are suppose to
cause mild to moderate skin irritation (OECD). In the article, Skin Sensitization Testing in
Potency and Risk Assessment, the author, Ian Kimber, professor of Toxicology at the University
of Manchester, says that, Although attempts have been made to modify the guinea pig
maximization test for the purposes of deriving dose-response relationships, this method is
usually unsuitable for determination of relative sensitizing potency (Kimber). Guinea pigs is not

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needed to be used as testing animals, then why do we still subject these animals to go through
such horrible experimentations?
Rabbits were domesticated in the sixth century to be used as food and for their fur. By the
1920s, rabbits have become one of the most commonly used research animals. There are many
different types of animals that get tested on but since rabbits are mild-tempered, easy to care for
and breed frequently, it makes them very easy targets for animal testing. One example of rabbit
testing is called the Draize test, which is a method that evaluates the safety of substances that are
used in or around the eyes. In the article, The Draize Eye Test, by Kirk R. Wilhelmus, professor
of Ophthalmology at Baylor College of Medicine, says, The eyes of rabbits are generally more
susceptible to irritating substances than the eyes of humans (Wilhelmus 1). This test can cause a
large amount of pain to the rabbits it is being tested on because the substances are dripped into
the rabbits eyes. The test often causes redness, swelling, and severe damages to the rabbits eyes
like blindness. After the test is conducted, the rabbits are killed (Rabbits in Laboratories).
SOLUTIONS TO ANIMAL TESTING
We are in an age of great technological advances and here we are, still using other beings
as testing toys when we have so many other options right at the edge of our fingertips. In the
article, Alternatives to Animal Testing: A review by Sonali K. Doke and Shashikant C.
Dhawale, from the School of Pharmacy at SRTM University, explains alternatives in which can
be used instead of animal testing. One example Doke and Dhawale, writes about it is computer
models. The software used is called Computer Aided Drug Design (CADD), which is used to
predict the receptor binding site for a potential drug molecule (Doke et. al. 1). This was system
created long ago to help with other experiments besides animal testing. This method of testing

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should be made into law because this minimizes the need to kill any animals for testing and can
even get a better accuracy of how each drug or cosmetic product is harmful.
As horrible as it is to test on animals, there are always going to be some group of people
or individuals, who will disagree with you. There is never going to be one thing that everyone in
the world will agree on. The former UK Home Office Minister, Joan Ryan, said, Animal
research and testing has played a part in almost every medical breakthrough of the last century. It
has saved hundreds of millions of lives worldwide... (Forty reasons why we need animals in
research). Many medical breakthroughs in the past century have been made possible because of
animal research because of the similarities between animals and human beings. But if the
similarities in animals and humans are so close then why do we have to subject animals to such
cruelty? It is wrong for parents to hit their children but why is okay for humans to test on
animals? Animals have the cognitive ability to think like humans, as mentioned earlier in the
paper so they should not have to subject to such cruelty from humans. A quote that should be
mentioned again is by Peter Singer, a well-known philosopher, and he says, Theres nothing
so special about me that my suffering is more important than your suffering
or anyone else suffering or animals(Singer 8:00). It is wrong to treat other
humans badly, so it should be wrong to treat animals badly too.
In the early 20th century animals were widely tested on, but by the 1970s, many
European countries have decreased the number of animals be tested by almost 50 percent.
Starting in 60s and through the 70s and 80s, many organizations that advocate for animal rights
have begun starting to form. Some examples of these organizations are the Human Society of the
U.S. founded in 1954, and Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing, founded in the U.S. in
1981. In 1959, William M. S. Russell, a British zoologist, and Rex L. Burch, microbiologist

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published a book called The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique. This book was
about principles that ethical use of animals in testing. The three Rs are replacement, reduction,
and refinement. Replacement means to choose to use a non-animal method over an animal
method in testing, reductions means to get more information from using the same amount of
animals or to get a comparable amount of information from using only a few amount of animals
and refinement means to use methods that ease the most amount of pain you can to not hurt the
animals (Mukerjee 88,89). This solution helps the animals by having the experiments require less
use of animals and more on other methods. Even though that this method does not get rid of
animal testing, it shows that there are ways to reduce the stress on the animals and reduce the
number of animals that have to suffer.
Although animal testing is not required to be done before putting a product out in the
United States, there are countries that have banned the use of animal testing and does not let the
companies that do test on animals, to be aloud to sell products in that country. The United States
Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is responsible for assuring that cosmetics are safe and
properly labeled. The FDA enforced an act called the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
(FD&C Act), which is a group that has to enforce the laws that the FDA has placed into this act.
In the article, Animal Testing & Cosmetics, from the FDA website it says that, The FD&C
Act does not specifically require the use of animals in testing cosmetics for safety, nor does the
Act subject cosmetics to FDA premarket approval. However, the agency has consistently advised
cosmetic manufacturers to employ whatever testing is appropriate and effective for substantiating
the safety of their products. It remains the responsibility of the manufacturer to substantiate the
safety of both ingredients and finished cosmetic products prior to marketing. This is saying how
it is up to the decision of the manufacturer to decided how they determine the products they

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make are safe or not. The FDA does not support nor is against the testing of animals. The FDA
should have more specific rules on animal testing in this act by saying they should enforce the
3Rs, which was described in the previous paragraph. This is a good solution it does not
completely take out animal testing by it saves the live of many cats, rabbits, guinea pigs and etc.
Saving one life is better than saving no lives. (Animal Testing & Cosmetics) Some countries that
have banned animal testing and having products in the market that have been tested on animals
are European Union, Israel and India (PETA Funds Non-Animal Methods). We should follow the
footsteps of these countries.
Another way to stop animal testing is by starting a petition and spreading awareness of
the petition through social media. In my Writing 39C class, we have a weeklong assignment,
where we each had to conduct a social media campaign for a cause. One of the groups in my
class decided to do it on animal testing. One of their big advocacy ideas was starting a petition
that you would sign if you were against animal testing. Gary Yourofsky, animal rights activist,
said, So dont think for one minute think that you yourself cannot directly affect the lives of
thousands of animals (Yourofsky 8:57). By using social media to spread the word about this
petition we can help save animals lives. Social media was a big part in helping them spread the
word about their petition because they posted about the petition everyday, on different kinds of
social media; including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and etc. The used the power of social
media to get family and friends to share the post to their friends and family and this then
becomes a domino effect, where the petition is going to get noticed all over the world. This is a
good way to stop the testing on animals because companies care about the thoughts of the
consumers, so if so many of their consumers do not want to use products that are tested on
animals, they might take that into consideration.

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CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the testing on animals is something that is no longer needed in the age of
technology we are in. We have developed so much knew technology in the past decade that we
have so much information at the palm of our hands. We all have the right to live a good and
happy life, so we should give animals the right to live a life, where they are not subjected to
living in a small cage and having to be used a testing dolls in a laboratory. We should all take
part in the path to stop animal testing!

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Work Cited
Animal Testing & Cosmetics. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Web. 23 May 2016
Doke, Sonali K., Dhawale, Shashikant C. "Alternatives to animal testing: A review". Science
Direct. Web. 23 May 2016.
Experiments on Animals: Overview. PETA. Web. 18 May 2016.
Forty reasons why we need animals in research. Understanding Animal Research. Web. 23
May 2016.
Goldman, Jason G. Monday Pets: Dumb Guinea Pig? (The I Just Got Back From APS
Edition). Science Blogs. Web. 26 May 2016.
Kimber, I., et al. "Skin sensitization testing in potency and risk assessment." Toxicological
Sciences 59.2 (2001): 198-208.
Kluger, Jeffrey. Intelligence `. TIME: The Animal Mind. 14 Nov. 2014: 6-19. Print.
Lewejohann, Lars, Thorsten Pickel, Norbert Sachser, and Sylvia Kaiser. Wild genius domestic
fool? Spatial learning abilities of wild and domestic guinea pigs. BioMed Central.
Frontiers in Zoology. Web. 14 May 2016.
McCune, Sandra, Joy Stevenson, Laura Fretwell, Amy Thompson, and Daniel Simon Mills.
"Ageing does not significantly affect performance in a spatial learning task in the
domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus)." Applied Animal Behaviour Science 112.3 (2008):
345-356. Web. 14 May 2016.
Mukerjee, Madhusree. Trends in Animal Research. Scientific American. Web. 23 May 2016.
OCSE. Skin Sensitisation. OCSE Guideline for Testing of Chemicals No 406, OCSE, Paris.
1992. Web. 18 May 2016.
[https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/iccvam/suppdocs/feddocs/oecd/oecdtg406.pdf]

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PETA Funds Non-Animal Methods. PETA. Web. 23 May 2016.
Saito, Atsuko, and Kazutaka Shinozuka. "Vocal recognition of owners by domestic cats (Felis
catus)." Animal cognition 16.4 (2013): 685-690. Web. 14 May 2016.
Shreve, Kristyn R. Vitale, and Monique A.R. Udell. "Whats inside your cats head? A review of
cat (Felis silvestris catus) cognition research past, present and future." Animal cognition
18.6 (2015): 1195-1206. Web. 14 May 2016.
Singer, Peter and Richard Dawkins. "Vegetarianism, Animal Rights, and Living Ethically."
Youtube. 22 November 2011. Web. 9 May 2016.
Smith, Linda B., and Susan S. Jones. "Cognition without concepts." Cognitive Development 8.2
(1993): 181-188.
Yourofsky, Gary. "Through the Eyes of an Animal: A Lecture by Gary Yourofsky." Youtube. 20
April 2015. Web. 29 May 2016.