Animal Testing Is Wrong

1606 Words4 Pages

Animal testing has been around since the third and fourth centuries BC, when it was performed by Greek philosopher-physicians. However, it is unknown when people began to question this process. In today’s society, the idea of testing products on animals has become more and more controversial with numerous groups being created and becoming even more vocal. While people will decide for themselves where they stand in this argument, I would hope that most would agree that animal abuse is wrong. So, if animal abuse is wrong and animal testing can be, and usually is, much more painful and severe than animal abuse; why can’t people agree on the subject of animal testing? However, the argument for animal testing is also legitimate. Animal testing can help scientists find side effects, medicines, even cures. So, are the advantages of testing on animals worth the ethical issues it creates?
The history of animal testing is a long and controversial one. Early Greek physician-scientists Aristotle (384 – 322 BC) and Erasistratus (304 – 258 BC), to name a couple, performed experiments on living animals. Galen (129 – 199 / 217 AD), also a Greek physician, practiced in Rome and was very important in the history of medicine. He conducted animal experiments to advance the understanding of anatomy, physiology, pathology, and pharmacology. In twelfth century Moorish Spain, an Arab physician by the name of Ibn Zuhr was the first to use animal testing as an experimental method for testing surgical procedures before using them on human patients. William Harvey was an English physician during the 17th Century. He experimented with many animal species aiming to demonstrate blood circulation. In 1859, Charles Darwin's evolutionary theory reinforced th...

... middle of paper ...

...litics.co.uk/reference/animal-testing

http://www.aboutanimaltesting.co.uk/background-history-animal-testing.html

http://www.medicaldaily.com/animal-testing-long-unpretty-history-247217

http://www.care2.com/causes/why-we-should-test-on-humans-not-animals.html

http://www.animalresearch.info/en/designing-research/why-animals-are-used/

http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/alternatives-animal-testing/

http://www.mediapeta.com/peta/pdf/GTAfactsheets.pdf

http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/about-us/the-science-action-network/forty-reasons-why-we-need-animals-in-research/

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/cons-products/fashion-/-cosmetics-/-jewellery/government-bans-cosmetic-companies-from-testing-on-animals/articleshow/29241813.cms

http://caat.jhsph.edu/

http://www.lpag.org/layperson/layperson.html#history

Open Document