Every year in the UK alone 50-100 million mice, rats, fish, dogs, cats, non-human primates and countless other animals are test and experiment subjects. Introduced in the 19th century animal experimentation is a new concept in the history of science and medicine. Back then it was only a few basic experiments on animals or humans. As history progressed and humans began discovering more and more about the functions of human body curiosity increased. This led to American scientists testing out new types of surgery and infecting slaves with malaria, typhus and jaundice. With the introduction of the Nuremberg Code and the Helsinki Declarations that imposed strict rules on human experimentation the scientific community switched to the use of animals. …show more content…
Well, to start many animals, such as primates, have very similar cognitive levels as humans, which means these primates can feel pain and suffering in a similar way humans do. If instead these experiments were on non-consenting humans there would be mass resistance and hostility. So, why should non-human primates and other animals receive unjust treatment and have very little protection under the law? I am by no means saying we should completely abolish animal experimentation I am stating that there needs to be restrictions so that animals receive the proper level of protection they …show more content…
Animals used for experiments are often isolated from others which can be detrimental for animals that have complex social interactions. A comparison of primates and humans, shows they both are social creatures that need interaction with others. can be made of primates and humans, both are social creatures that require interactions with others to maintain a healthy mental and consequentially physical state, removing such an interaction would cause the human and primate to not develop appropriate social responses. An argument could be made that having the animals happier would produce more accurate responses since their mind and actions will not be influenced by the neurological changes that arise with depression.
At the same time, in many countries there are stricter regulations currently in place on the usage of higher cognitive functioning animals in experiments. For example, in the UK a license to perform an experiment on a cat, dog or, primate are not be given unless there was no other acceptable animal alternative. Regulations like such protect the rights of higher cognitive functioning animals by forcing scientists to use animals that feel less pain and suffering unless it is
Without animal research, cures for such diseases as typhoid, diphtheria, and polio might never have existed. Without animal research, the development of antibiotics and insulin would have been delayed. Without animal research, many human beings would now be dead. However, because of animal testing, 200,000 dogs, 50,000 cats, 60,000 primates, 1.5 million hamsters, and uncounted millions of rats and mice are experimented upon and die each year, as living fodder for the great human scientific machine. Some would say that animal research is an integral part of progress; unfortunately, this is often true. On the whole, animal testing is a necessary evil that should be reduced and eliminated whenever possible.
There is a moral blind spot in the treatment of animals that enable us to justify the cruelties for the perceived benefits of humans. Animals are living things. They have lungs which breathe, hearts which beat, and blood that flows. In fact, animals sense of smell, sight, and sound is much more acute than our own. Therefore, we can assume that their sensitivity to pain is at least equal to ours. According to Hippocrates, “The soul is the same in all living creatures, although the body of each is different.” This can go with the Duty Theory that states that every individual gets treated the same. The intentions of animal testing is not to harm the animals, but that is exactly what it does.
Putting aside the countless claims that animal experimentation is unethical and should be banned, it is incredibly necessary and useful for mankind. Experimenting on humans is inhumane and completely immoral, while animals that do not function in the same way humans do should be used in medical research and to test the safety of various products. If animal testing were illegal, how would worldly corporations determine the safety of products? Surely the valuable lives of human beings are not essential to risk, hence the reason that animal experimenting is necessary. In addition, medical research would be in great jeopardy if were animals were not permitted to be experimented on. Medical industries have already come so far in treating multiple ailments due to the tests performed on animals. Alas, it is safe to say that for the continued thriving of our society, forbidding animal experimentation would be detrimental.
Every person in this world should accept the fact that animals are living beings just like us. Additionally, every person should accept that animals are not ours to experiment on, to torture or kill them for our own purpose. It is a well-known fact that they are intelligent creatures and most important – they do have the ability to think, to feel anger and happiness, they want to make friends and to have life partners. Can you imagine the pain they feel when they are separated one from another or when they are simply excluded from the freedom to live only to die for cosmetics? Therefore, if we are against keeping people in captivity against their will, torturing them, doing cruel experiments on them and causing them to suffer and bleed to death then we should also be against animal testing. Consequently, if it is immoral and unethical to torture, do harm or kill a person then it should be immoral and unethical to do the same to these innocent living creatures
Historically, the use of animals for experimental purposes dates back to early Greek physician-scientists. Aristotle and Galen both conducted experiments on animals in an effort to contribute to our understanding of science and medicine.1 Claude Bernard later established animal experimentation as part of the scientific method. Known as the father of physiology, Bernard stated that “experiments on animals are entirely conclusive for the toxicology and hygiene of man. The effects of these substances are the same on man as on animals, save for differences in degree.”1 Bernard’s work strongly influenced the use of animals in biomedical research, which has become a common, and often required, practice today. The American Medical Association (AMA)...
Most would not put animals in the same category as humans so giving them the same rights seems quite ridiculous; since humans are supposed to be seen as the alpha species. What is a more realistic term is to consider them our property, because we continue to use animal testing and think it is okay to harm these animals. In the end, animal testing and research is cruel and should be done away with. It is a proven fact that animals feel pain just like humans do. No animal deserves to have his or her life purpose be to give his or her life unknowingly for science. We must to put an end to this cruelty and torture because just like humans, animals are living beings. No matter how it is perceived, it is cruel and unusual punishment.
In modern society, animal experimentation has triggered a controversy; consequently, vast amount of protests have been initiated by the animal rights community. Although these organizations have successfully broadcast their concerns toward animal experimentation, its application continues to survive. Sally Driscoll and Laura Finley inform that there remain fifty million to one-hundred million animals that experience testing or experimentation throughout the world on a yearly basis. But despite opposition, animal experimentation, the use of experiments on animals in order to observe the effects an unknown substance has on living creatures, serves multiple purposes. Those particular purposes are: research of the living body, the testing of products, and the advancement of medicine.
The history of animal experimentation and tests, and the argument surrounding it, has an expansive and somewhat extensive history. Some of the first medical research that was conducted on living animals was done by Aelius Galenus, better known as Galen, in the second century C.E. There have been examples of animal testing in earlier dates, but Galen devoted his life to understanding science and medicine, so he is attributed to being the father of vivisection. In the twelfth century, an Arabic physician named Avenzoar introduced animal testing dissections as a means to better understand surgery before preforming the operation on a human patient. Edmund O’Meara made one of the first opposing ar...
Hurting an animal is better than hurting a fellow human being right? Well imagine a child being ripped away from his mother in today’s society, for no reason. Would that be considered okay, or kidnapping? Imagine humans being forced to breed, just so their children can be tortured for makeup or a new facial wash. Would that be considered okay, or morally incorrect? People do not see animals as fellow living things, because they do not have the power to say no like a person can. They can’t stand up for themselves, leaving the people of the world to do it for them. Seeing that there are other ways to test out consumer products, why harm defenseless, breathing, loving, beings? With all things considered, animal testing “has no place in science today” (Goodall, 1).
According to the article” Save the Animals: Stop Animal Testing,” animals’ rights are violated when the sciences are doing the research and there are many similar ways between humans and animals, such as how they feel and behave. Even though animals cannot express their opinions, they still feel, think, and experience pain. When the sciences use animals to do the research, humans still need to respect them because of animals’ rights. Animals have their opinions they cannot explain and humans have a duty to protect animals’ rights. Animal testing should be banned because humans need to respect their minds.
Every year, over 100 million animals are killed for experimentation, biology lessons, medical/military training, and cosmetic, drug, and chemical testing. Animals are tortured all over the world and still lack lawful protection.
“Animals were used in early studies to discover how blood circulates through the body, the effect of anesthesia, and the relationship between bacteria and disease” (AMA 59). Experiments such as these seem to be outdated and actually are by today’s means, scientists now commonly study for three general purposes: (1) biomedical and behavioral research, (2) education, (3) drug and product testing (AMA 60). These three types of experiments allow scientists to gain vast amounts of knowledge about human beings.... ... middle of paper ... ...& Co.
Over 100 million animals are used in experiments; 95% of these animals end up dying. Animals are killed and mutilated for the sake of science. Some experiments can involve “blinding, severing of limbs, damaging brain, and ingesting various drugs.” (Coster,
On the other hand, animal lovers and animal rights extremists hold to the view that animal experimentation is not only necessary but also cruel. Humankind is subjecting them to such cruelties because they are helpless and even assuming such experiments do bring in benefits, the inhuman treatment meted out to them is simply not worth such benefits. They would like measures, including enactment of legislation to put an end to using animals in the name of research. This paper takes the view there are merits in either of the arguments and takes the stand that a balanced approach needs to be taken on the issue so that both the medical science does not suffer, and the animal lovers are pacified, even if not totally satisfied. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: The next section discusses both the sides by taking account the views of scholars and practitioners and the subsequent section concludes the paper by drawing vital points from the previous section to justify the stand taken in this paper....
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.