animal experimentation for medicine. what should we do?

Sanisha asked me my opinion about the GlaxoSmithKline cases and I must admit that I was not aware of them. I did a quick squizz on google and sure enough there are definitely links between GSK and animal experimentation. And of course there are. I suppose all medicines are tested on animals, especially when they want to test the toxicity levels, e.g. how much would I have to take before it becomes toxic and what will the side effects be? Perhaps we are used to rats and mice being tested and have little compassion for them simply because it has always been so, but other animals are also tested, dogs, monkeys....

My question is, if animals are so different from us, how can they be suitable candidates for testing of human medicines? It breaks my heart when I think of the cruelty behind this. But what is the appropriate action? If one really believes that it's terrible torture and murder, can one just sit by and let it happen? One can almost understand the destructive actions of animal activists. Yet, violence and intimidation is not something I want to condone. These people take too much power into their own hands, are irrational, can hurt innocent people and damange the image of animal liberation movements.

Ghandi believed that violence was never a solution to oppression. And certainly violence just leads to more hatred and violence. Yet in South Africa, black South Afican's eventually started using some violence and intimidation tactics to get themselves heard after decades of trying to talk with their oppressors. I cannot blame them. Millions of lives were being destroyed by Apartheid. But perhaps it wasn't the intimidation tactics that stopped it, but rather economic and social pressures? If that is the case, then perhaps we as the consuming public do have power, by make ethical choices when we purchase things. But we all need medicine. Who would not take medicine when they need it or deprive their sick children? I cannot say that I would.