Animal Testing Research

682 Words2 Pages

Ilenia rivera Mr. Folkman World History 7 May 2014 IB Historical Investigation: To what extent is animal testing beneficial to humans and to what extent is it unnecessary? A. Plan of Investigation This investigation seeks to answer the question to what extent is animal testing beneficial to humans and to what extent is it repetitive and unnecessary? This is an important question because people don’t realize the cruelty that is behind cosmetic products on store shelves. This investigation focuses on the cruelty and neglect the animals are put through in laboratories, and how testing on animals can be inaccurate. This investigation is limited to the cruelty on animals used for entertainment, and does not examine the way animals that are used for food are treated. B. Summary of Evidence Testing on animals became popular during the eighteen and nineteen centuries, during this time people did not consider testing immoral, one of the few who did was an English Philosopher named Jeremy Bentham, in 1789 he asked, The question is not, can they reason? Nor, Can they talk? But, Can they suffer? In 1859 Charles Darwin published “The Origin of Species.” In his theory of evolution he showed a relationship between humans and animals and suggested that we can learn many things about human behavior by observing animals (Animal Testing, Chris Hayhurst). These two great men were not able to change people’s view on testing so researchers moved on and made huge advances on biology and medicine. It wasn’t until 1876 that the British Cruelty to Animals Act was passed, this act established regulations in animal research in Britain, in the United States, however, attempts at passing similar laws were rejected by congress (The Animal Rights Movement). ... ... middle of paper ... ...l welfare laws have been the fastest growing in the last 5 years. This is a great source except that it is just out of date. D. Analysis To what extent is animal testing beneficial to humans and to what extent is testing repetitive and unnecessary? Nowadays, with many alternatives available it is not hard to decide. Most animal experiments are unnecessary and repetitive, not to mention it is also very expensive. It costs a significant amount of money to house an animal; there are alternatives like computer models which are not just cheaper, but also a lot faster (Handbook for Young Adults). If people argue that the purpose of animal testing is to save lives, computer models are best choice, they can generate information instantly while animals have to be under observation for weeks. This means they are delaying the release of life-saving products to the public.

Open Document