Animal research, or animal testing, is the use of animals in scientific researches to study and develop drugs for the life-taking diseases that human beings contract. It has been practiced for hundreds of years. Animal testing helps produced many vaccines and other drugs, like penicillin, and thus, save many human lives. On the other hand, animal testing also causes pain and kills a lot of animals used during the researches that many people oppose this practice. Supporters show their support, while opponents show their oppositions toward this controversial issue that is still in debates today. In a laboratory for animals, all sorts of animals, such as rats, mice, baboons, dogs, cats, and chimpanzees, can be found. All of them are locked in cages individually, kept away from the natural world of where they should have belonged. In addition, they may be connected to wires or may look aberrant because they are infected with “human diseases.” Scientists “force-feed chemicals to animals, conduct repeated surgeries on them, implant wires in their brains, crush their spines, and much more… usually without any painkillers” (“Life in a Laboratory”). This practice is called “Animal Research,” which has been a controversial issue, placing the public’s emotions into a dilemma. Have you ever wonder how some of your personal care products were made? By trial and errors, scientists conduct many experiments, not on themselves, but on animals in order to successfully bring the newly developed products into the market. Some of the products are penicillin and many vaccines against diseases, like rabies and measles (“Animal Experiments”). These products would not have been created without the help or even the sacrifice of the animals in the animal ... ... middle of paper ... ... Animal Test. 24 Jul 2014 . “Animal Testing.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 27 Jul 2014 . Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 27 Jul 2014 . “Ethics of Research Involving Animals, The.” Nuffield Council on Bioethics. 24 Jul 2014 . “House of Lords – Animals in Scientific Procedures – Report.” The United Kingdom Parliament. 2010. 25 Jul 2014 . “Life in a Laboratory.” Stop Animal Test. 24 Jul 2014 . “Use of Laboratory Animals in Biomedical and Behavioral Research.” The National Academy Press. 1988. 24 Jul 2014 .
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 broadcasted 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
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)...
Sun, Shany. "The Truth Behind Animal Testing." Young Scientists Journal 5.12 (2012): 83-85. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.
Animal testing is performed in a wide arena of areas such as colleges and universities, laboratories, and within pharmaceutical companies. The main uses for the need of animal experimentation are genetic development, biomedical and biochemical research, toxicology, cosmetic testing and more. The use of animals for scientific research has constantly been a topic of ethical debate. Some major ...
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.
Medical testing on animals is considered animal cruelty and is unnecessary. "Many animals are used in scientific and medical research. They often undergo cruel methods of testing and suffer greatly as a result." (Animal Experimentation: Cruel and Unnecessary) Opponents of animal testing say that it is cruel and inhumane to experiment on animals, that alternative methods available to researchers can replace animal testing, and that animals are so different from human beings that reserch on animals often yields irrelevant results. Innocent animals are tested on every year. Some are experimented on and are then killed after their use, while others, are kept alive and are kept in captivity. In more than 1,000 laboratories across the country, monkeys are addicted to drugs, cats are deafened and have holes drilled into their skulls, sheep and pigs have their skin burned off, and rats have their spinal cords crushed. Tiny mice are made to grow tumors, nearly as big as their own bodies, kittens are purposely blinded and rats are made to suffer seizures. Dogs are intentionally poised with experimented drugs, chimpanzees are infected with debilitating diseases and rabbits have grotesque devices implan...
For many years, animal testing has been the main solution to test household products, food, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. The term “animal testing” refers to the procedure performed on certain animals to determine if a certain product is safe. Most of these procedures done on the animal can cause a great amount of physical pain, and distress. Most animals die shortly after the experiment because so much pain was inflicted on their body. After the testing is done, the animals are left to suffer in cages. The different types of experiments performed on the animals are outrageous. There is even an alternative to animal testing, but scientist refuse to use it, and some people wonder if animals are even needed for medical research.
Every year approximately 100 million animals are killed as a part of scientific research in the United States alone. Animal testing is a highly controversial practice in the modern world. There are records of animals being used in biological and medicinal research as far back as 384 BCE with the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. Many people believe animal testing is unethical as it is bringing harm to animals in order to benefit humans. Ever since the beginning of this practice, animal testing has been used for a variety of purposes, all of which are inhumane and unethical.
The types of experiments performed at the University of Buffalo and the University of California depicts just some of the few horrors of animal testing. According to the article, during these experimentations the eyes of monkeys were implanted with metal coils into their eye sockets in order to study movement ("Update: Animal Testing"). Often times animals are tested upon in laboratories, living in cold isolated environments. The moral aspect of the debate, is whether or not animals should be utilized and later euthanized for the purpose of human benefit, especially when only one party decides. As a resu...
The information that animals have provided scientists over the past decades has changed society, and is still changing society for the better. Millions of lives have been saved with the use of animal testing and many more will be saved with continued research. However, there are many who dismiss this monumental achievement completely and oppose the use of animals in laboratory research. Though many find this practice to be
"Types of Animal Testing." -The American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS). N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. .
The definition of animal testing is tests performed on animals that help to advance scientific research and medicinal development. What is animal testing exactly? This definitely displays that animal tests is only carried out with good intent, as well as not to lead to haphazard harm on animals, some animal tests is performed to better researchers knowledge on the subjects of human and animal behavior, development, and biological functions; this is called basic or fundamental research . And some of animal tests help scientists to understand diseases and enhances them to develop cures and treatments for them; this is called targeted or applied research. And few numbers of tests are undergone to test the safety of everyday products such as body lotion and deodorant;
Our advancements in science have enabled us to create other things that we can test on, instead of harming innocent animals. Since experiments are cruel and expensive, “the world’s most forward-thinking scientists have moved on to develop and use methods for studying
Evidence of animal testing can be found in greek writing as early as 500 B.C. Clearly showing that animal testing has been around for a long time, but only recently has it become a topic of real concern. Used for the purpose of developing medical treatments that could one day benefit humankind, determine the toxicity of medications (usually in at least two animal species), and to check the safety of products that are destined for human use. http://animal-testing.procon.org/ Animal testing has sprouted debate among the human population. Proponents of animal testing argue that animal testing is necessary to achieve medical breakthroughs, without animal testing who would they use for experiments, and that animal testing is important for learning. Arguments for those against animal testing include the fact that animals are biologically different than humans, they are caged in inhumane living conditions, must undergo painful experiments, and it is extremely costly.
Orlans, F Barbara. (1990). Animals, Science, and Ethics--Section V. Policy Issues in the Use of Animals in Research, Testing, and Education. The Hastings Center Report, 20(3), S25-30. Retrieved April 28, 2011, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1658998).