If animal testing was not absolutely necessary, believe me, the pharmaceutical companies that conduct the tests wouldn't do it. The cost of housing, animal husbandry, and the regulatory requirements are astronomical.
I worked for a company developing software for animal labs and we were even targeted. Though they have a case in promoting the development of new, safe, alternative forms of testing, animal right campaigners are largely ignorant, misguided pricks. What will they force to close down next?
We should all put pressure on the pharma companies to find alternatives to testing through the government, but at the same time string these terrorists up by the bollocks/tits 
I've worked for drug companies and in academic research, and nobody, absolutely nobody I've met wants to do animal testing. Pharma companies especially, as was pointed out due to costs.
It's the government run regulatory agencies (not pharma companies) in all countires that require safety studies in animals before you can even think about giving a new drug to a human. Many potential drugs get binned immediately, because animal testing demonstrates they are unsafe.
Look what happened when Thalidomide got through without anyone finding out the dangers associated with it (there are now more stringent animal studies that are carried out nowadays so something like that doesn't happen again).
Unfortunately the choice is to test on a guinea pig, or on your loved ones. If people object to animal testing, then they have the right not to take ANY drugs, or undergo ANY kind of medical procedure that has been tested on an animal.
