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Why we should stop animal testing
Medical advances using animal testing
Why should animal testing continue
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Have you ever really thought about what happens during animal testing? How the animals are treated, or what tortures they have to face on a day to day basis? More than one-hundred million animals suffer and die every year through animal testing. Ninety-five percent of animals used in experimentation aren’t even covered under the Animal Welfare Act, which regulates the treatment of the animals that are used for testing. Some animals are abused and mistreated so badly that they die before they are even experimented on. Animal testing is a cruel procedure and should be made illegal. However, animal testing is very important to understanding the human body. Over the years, we have vivisection to thank for many of our medical advances we have reached this far. Vivisection is the practice of performing the testing procedures that are done on the live test animals. Some say that it is necessary to continue proceeding with animal testing so that we may keep making progress in the medical field. However, this is wrong because we have already gathered enough information to create alternatives for animal testing, yet we still continue to torment helpless animals. We should begin only using other choices to animal testing, since we have them. They are cheaper, accurate, and more precise. Why continue to waste millions of innocent animal’s lives per year when we have other options? Besides, “animals aren’t as important as humans.” In our society, animals have little, if any rights because humans are the dominant species. It would be more moral to keep human suffering down to a minimum as opposed to animals suffering. But that’s not fair, because animals also have rights. But the Animal welfare Act (AWA) excludes mice and rats from these ri... ... middle of paper ... ...US Department of Health & Human Services. FDA, 050406. Web. 08 Dec 11. . Dixon, Thomas. "Animal Experimentation." iDebate. Churchill College, 070409. Web. 07 Dec 2013. . Mullins, Alisa. "Tax Dollars Thrown Away on Pointless Animal Experiments." Peta. Peta, 21 Sep 2013. Web. 08 Dec 2013. . Roppolo, Michael. "Stupid science: 4 dumb experiments done by scientists." Fox News. Fox, 20 june 2013. Web. 09 Dec 2013. . Rouhi, Maureen. "Thalidomide ." Wikipedia. N.p., 02 Dec 2013. Web. 10 Dec 2013. .
Imagine a puppy spending his entire life in a locked cage where he is deprived of food and water, and force-fed chemicals from time to time. This is the life of animals in a laboratory. Live-animal experimentation, also known as vivisection, is not only unethical, but also cruel and unnecessary. In the article “Vivisection is Right, but it is Nasty- and We must be Brave Enough to Admit This”, Michael Hanlon claims vivisection is a moral necessity that without the use of animals in the laboratory, humans would not have modern medicine like antibiotics, analgesic, and cancer drugs (1). For example, Hanlon believes sewing kittens’ eyelids together can aid researchers to study the effects of amblyopia in children (1). Conversely, the use of animals
This theme song to a popular cartoon is a farce dealing with experiments carried out on animals. In the cartoon one mouse is made very smart and wants to take over the world while the other is clearly not as smart. While the cartoon makes jokes, the reality is that mice and other animals re being used for medical tests every day. For some people this testing brings up ethical questions. One of the biggest questions: is it really necessary to take the lives of animals in the name of science and for the betterment of humanity? For animal rights activists, like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the answer is no. PETA pressures labs into halting experiments because they believe that animals are not to be used by humans for "food, clothing, entertainment, or to experiment on" (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals 1). Its stance is that any testing is painful, inhumane, and unnecessary when alternatives are available. The PETA website says that "animals, like humans, have interests that cannot be sacrificed or traded away simply because it might benefit others." (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals 2-3). Essentially, PETA is of the opinion that animals and humans should have identical rights. In their press releases PETA puts out pictures of rabbits with open flesh wounds and dogs with rashes on their skins--all in an attempt to disgust people into sympathy for their cause. In actuality the number of lab animals used has been cut in half in the last 25 years (James-Enger 254). Of the animals used, 90 percent are rats and mice (James-Enger 1). Moreover, 11 million animals die each year in animal shelters (Americans for Medical Progress 2) and an astounding 95 percent ...
...e outrageously painful and sometimes deadly to the animals. How on earth is that humane? Some animals even end up having permanent disabilities from all the chemical testing. The findings and conclusions from animal testing rarely work the same way on humans and an enormous amount of money is spent on failed attempts. The rate of success of transferring test results to humans is too low to justify the expense. Taxpayers would be wise to invest this money in alternative methods such as technological advancements. While it may not be possible to completely diminish animal testing, significant reductions need to be made in order to advance the state of technology and improve overall results. Advancements in medicine must be made without perpetuating needless suffering to helpless creatures. Testing needs to stop; animals don’t deserve any of this painful punishment.
According to an article by PETA, “experiments on animals are cruel, expensive and generally inapplicable to humans” (PETA 1). This shows how not only many laboratories and companies that use animals in their experiments are wasting money and time, but also wasting countless lives of animals. As a human, one does not have to suffer through unconsenting pain because no one would ever consent to be treated the way lab rats would be treated. A study done by the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that” medical treatments developed in animals rarely translated to humans” (Hackam, Redelmeier 1). This being said, it is not easy to comprehend why animal testing continues. However, as a community people think that “the benefits to humans does not justify the harm to animals” (Hajar 1). This goes to show how people who are pro-animal testing, marginalize the damage animal testing is doing to animals. While some may say that there needs to be alternative methods to animal testing, others may say that without animal testing it would be harder to test out new products for humans. Yet, with the information given by doctors Hackam and Redelmeier, it is clear to see that the use of animals is no longer
Devlin, Hannah. "Don't Let The Forces Of Unreason Stop Research; Scientists Should Be Braver In Defending Animal Experiments And Open Up Their Labs Series: Editorial; Opinion, Columns." Times of London 7, 07 2013,: n. pag. eLibrary. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
Animal testing has been used for developing and researching cures for medical conditions. For example, the polio vaccine, chemotherapy for cancer, insulin treatment for diabetes, organ transplants and blood transfusions are just some of the important advances that have come from research on animals (“Animal Testing”). Consuming animals for research benefits in developing various treatments and also benefits in discovery better methods for cures. According to the article “Animal Testing”, it says that the underlying rationale for the use of animal testing is that living organisms provide interactive, dynamic systems that scientists can observe and manipulate in order to understand normal and pathological functioning as well as the effectiveness of medical interventions. It relies on the physiological and anatomical similarities between humans and other animals (MacClellan, Joel). Meaning that animals have the same body components and features as humans and is the best thing to research on to better understand the human development. Even though several argue that animal testing is harming the animals, one has to think back to all the benefits that has come from it. There may be a little remorse for endangering animal lives, but realizing how far medicine has come makes it worth the while.
Animal testing is a controversial topic with two main sides of the argument. The side apposing animal testing states it is unethical and inhumane; that animals have a right to choose where and how they live instead of being subjected to experiments. The view is that all living organism have a right of freedom; it is a right, not a privilege. The side for animal testing thinks that it should continue, without animal testing there would be fewer medical and scientific breakthroughs. This side states that the outcome is worth the investment of testing on animals. The argument surrounding animal testing is older than the United States of America, dating back to the 1650’s when Edmund O’Meara stated that vivisection, the dissection of live animals, is an unnatural act. Although this is one of the first major oppositions to animal testing, animal testing was being practiced for millennia beforehand. There are two sides apposing each other in the argument of animal testing, and the argument is one of the oldest arguments still being debated today.
Wepworth, Adam. "Animal Research: The Ethics of Animal Experimentation." (n.d.): n. pag. 16 July 2010. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
Using animals as testing models for scientific research has become one of the serious issues in the world. According to Procon.org, almost 26 million animals are used for scientific testing every year in the United States, and more than 10 thousand animals died in those testing experiments. Many scientists believe that animal testing is necessary because it can help humans to develop more scientific research. However, the truth is that many animal testing experiments usually fail when they are used in humans. Therefore, animal testing should be banned because human’s DNA is not similar to animals, there have better ways, and animals have right.
vivisection Animal Research and Testing, Is it Ethical? “It is a simple fact that many, if not most, of today’s modern medical miracles would not exist if experimental animals had not been available to medical scientists. It is equally a fact that, should we as a society decide the use of animal subjects is ethically unacceptable and therefore must be stopped, medical progress will slow to a snail’s pace. Such retardation will in itself have a huge ethical ‘price tag’ in terms of continued human and animal suffering from problems such as diabetes, cancer, degenerative cardiovascular diseases, and so forth.” Dr. Simmonds, a veterinarian who specializes in the care of laboratory animals, is one of many who believe that animal testing is an ethical practice.
Animals should not be victims of vivisection when they have just as much of a right to be here as we do. The money used for animal testing could be used for a project with better potential. Animal testing should not be acceptable considering all the alternatives that technology has the power to do. The abuse of animals in medical experiments is a flaw on humanity, the sooner we end it, the better.
Animal experimentation spends 5 billion dollars of tax payer dollars per year. The amount of results seen from animal experimentation does not compare with the amount of money and lives of animals spent on research. Animal experimentation has not shown any huge or relevant results, as is widely thought. Dr. Charles Mayo, of the Mayo Clinic states "I abhor vivisection. It should at least be curbed. Better, it should be abolished. I know of no achievement through vivisection, no scientific discovery, that could not have been obtained without such barbarism and cruelty. The whole thing is evil."(PETA 1). The reason for this is that all animals, from humans to rats, vary and react differently to different things.
Of the several experiments performed on animals for research purposes, they all appear to affect the animal negatively. Scientists follow the “three R’s”. The “three R’s” are replacement, reduction, and refinement. Scientists are trying to substitute experimental animals with other, more ethical replacements (Monamy 5).
Animals are used in research to develop new medicines and for scientists to test the safety of the medicines. This animal testing is called vivisection. Research is being carried out at universities, medical schools and even in primary and elementary schools as well as in commercial facilities which provide animal experiments to industry. (UK Parliament) In addition, animals are also used in cosmetic testing, toxicology tests, “defense research” and “xenotransplantation”. All around the world, a huge amount of animals are sentenced to life in a laboratory cage and they are obliged to feel loneliness and pain. In addition scientists causing pain, most drugs that pas successfully in animals fail in humans. It is qualified as a bad science. Above all, animals have rights not to be harmed even though the Animal Welfare Act does not provide them even with minimal protection. The law does not find it necessary to use current alternatives to animals, even if they are obtainable. Animal testing should be banned due to animal rights, ethical issues, alternative ways and the unreliability of test results in humans.
A large issue is animal testing. “More than 25 million vertebrate animals are used in testing in the United States each year. When invertebrate animals are thrown into the mix, the estimated number rises to as high as 100 million.”(dosomething) The laboratory testing of animals is important to biomedical research, product safety testing, and education. Biomedical researchers use animals to extend their understanding of the workings of the body and the processes of disease and health, and to develop new vaccines and treatments for various diseases for humans and other animals. However, the morality, the necessity, or the validity of the studies are questionable. Thousands of animals are helplessly killed every year that animal testing is being conducted. “Ninety-four percent of animal testing is done to determine the safety of cosmetics and household products leaving only 6% for medical research” (about my planet). This can cause harm to the animals and may in turn be fatal. It is not fair nor is it humane to conduct experiments on animals to make sure a product or procedure is safe for us. There are no reasons to regard an animal’s life as if it is insignificant in contrast to a human life. During the testing, animals may be force fed or put in restraints in order for the scientists to get the product into their systems. Ani...