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computer or practised on humans. Blindness cannot be studied in bacteria, nor high blood pressure in tissue cultures.
It would be morally wrong to sell drugs, vaccines and other treatments for human or veterinary use without first testing them on laboratory animals. This testing is required by NZ law.
Some medical research using animals will probably always be needed.
No, there is never any guarantee of absolute safety for any medicine. But by testing them on a wide range of laboratory animals for several generations, the risks are reduced to very low levels.
The thalidomide tragedy which occurred more than 20 years ago, resulted from the marketing of a drug that had not been adequately tested. This points to a need for more animal testing, not less.