The Ethics of Animal Testing Animals have always held a very special place in the hearts of the human race. They are our best friends, our stress relievers, members of our families, and our test subjects for experimentation. For hundreds of years, animals have been used in laboratory settings as a replacement for humans when studying the effects of medical treatments. On average, nearly one hundred million animals are used in clinical trials every year (Ferdowsian). These animals have contributed to hundreds of breakthroughs in the medical field including countless toxicity tests to determine drug toxicity to humans, and exposure to paralyzing anesthetics to create anesthesia used in surgical procedures today. These animals have been vital …show more content…
In the past, experiments done on animals were gruesome and clearly inhumane. In 1678, Robert Hook surgically opened the chest of a dog and kept it alive by giving it breaths artificially. This experiment helped Hook prove that chest movements are not the fundamentals of respiration (Goyal). In another experiment, Carl Koller applied cocaine crystals to the eyes of a dog and observed through pricking the eyes with a needle, that the crystals numbed the eyes of the dog. This experiment helped Koller discover an anesthetic used in eye surgery. In the past, scientific understanding of how animals perceive pain was not as advanced as it is today. Alan Carter wrote about the treatment of animals during animal experimentation and reported that experimenters in the seventeenth century “administered beatings to dogs… and made fun of those who pitied the animals as if they could feel pain.” Animal experimentation was once gruesome and brutal, and even though steps have been taken to make testing more humane to animals, most experiments still harm animals in some …show more content…
One of these claims is that animal testing uses the three R’s in order to make testing more humane. These three R’s are reduction, refinement and replacement, meaning that scientists must attempt to reduce doses administered to test animals, refine experiments to make them more humane and try to replace animals altogether. If this method was always used, animal testing would be humane and ethical, but the three R’s are often neglected because the research results are viewed as being more important than the animals. Another claim that animal testing is ethical, is that animal testing has always been essential to medical breakthroughs. Although animals have served as important models for breakthroughs in drugs and medical procedures in the past, modern technology allows us to use more accurate models for testing such as cell structures. The final claim many people make is that animals are not able to feel pain anyway, so testing them does not matter. If an individual has ever observed a dog even step on a sticker and have it caught in their paw, they have seen an animal whimper and cry while hopping on three legs to try to stop the pain. It is a simple and minuscule pain, but animals feel it, so they will feel any pain involved in animal testing as well. Animals should be replaced in
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Show MoreFacilities that use animals for teaching, experimentations, surgery or testing purposes are known as research facilities. Currently, there are twelve animal research facilities in the state of Alabama ("General Information on Animal Research"). There are many different reasons why animals are used for research. Animals are used to test the products used in cosmetics, for biomedical research, for military defense and food production. Many people including the general public, scientists and government officials do not necessarily agree to the terms and conditions to which these animals are used for testing
Most of the medications that we in market today have been tested and proven effective for animals before prescribing them to human beings. However, would it feel good to know that every year, hundreds of thousands of animals are captured from the wild and die just because of these said experiments? For many years now, scientists have been using animals for their laboratory experiments to produce new medicines. Although scientists have been using this process for many decades in the field of medicine, it is still a controversial issue for those who are pro animal experimentation and against animal experimentation. Both sides have been arguing about the necessity of these procedures of the medical field. Carl Cohen, a vocal animal experimentation supporter states, “Experiments on animals are necessary in order to safeguard and improve human health and well-being” (Gaughen 1). On the other hand, here are some reasons why those who are against animal experimentation say that it should be banned: 1) scientists use endangered species; 2) non-human primates and other animals are poor subjects for experimentation; and 3) there are other alternatives to testing on animals for the production of new medicines. Most of those who are pro animal experimentation see only one side of the argument and do not consider these facts. Facts about animal experimentation show that it should be banned and should not be in the field of medicine anymore.
Animal experimentation has been and will continue to be a source in scientific research. Similarities between animals and humans allow for researchers to provide safer drugs and new treatments for diseases. (Foundation for Biomedical Research (FBR), 2008). Animal experiments have provided many positive outcomes in medical advancements that save human and animal lives. However, many people in today’s society have an emotional attachment to animals which fuels opposition to animal experimentation. But anyone concerned for human life must unequivocally endorse the rightness of using animals in medical research (Epstein, 2005). Studies using animals have been a practice and debated for hundreds of years. Scientists and medical researchers support animal testing which is necessary for medical advancements to treat disease. To preserve human life, animal experimentations will continue to play a vital role for medical testing in the introduction of new medications, toxicity testing and improved medical procedures.
most of our genetic material with the fly and the mouse? We are not as
Household objects such as shampoo bottles will often times say the product was not tested on animals. The ethics surrounding animal testing, the use of animals for testing products before they are released to the public for human use, has been debated for years. The main use of animals for testing is to confirm the product being tested is safe for humans, which has to be proven before a product can be released. Cosmetic and household product companies that have moved away from animal testing are consequently “using approved non-animal tests and combinations of existing ingredients that have already been established as safe for human use” (Thew 191). These tests are successful for common products, but are much more difficult to be put into practice
Throughout centuries medical research has been conducted on animals. “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 study commonly 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 b...
In ancient times, scientists made use of animals principally to satisfy anatomical curiosity. Early Greek physician-scientists performed experiments on living animals. Herophilus and Erasistratus, for example, examined sensory nerves, motor nerves, and tendons in order to understand their functional differences. But, it is still truly an apprehension that so many animals are killed every year for mankind’s own selfish purposes when we could easily stop the torture and instead use other things. There is probably a myriad of ideas waiting to be tried out. The Draize eye test, used by cosmetics companies to evaluate irritation caused by shampoos and other products, involves rabbits being incapacitated in stocks with their eyelids held open by clips, sometimes for multiple days, so they cannot blink away the products being tested. The commonly used LD50 (lethal dose 50) test involves finding out which dose of a chemical will kill 50% of the animals being used in the experiment. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported in 2010 that 97,123 animals suffered pain during experiments while being given no anesthesia for relief, including 1,395 primates, 5,996 rabbits, 33,652 guinea pigs, and 48,015 hamsters
Animal testing is a method that scientists use to development medicinal science and products. By this method animals are treated with different kinds of chemicals and drugs with the point to find cures for diseases and safety usage for human. However, knowledge that scientists obtain in every experiment is based on pain and torture that animals suffer in each experiment. People find out the advantages that animal testing brings, but the truth is that they unknow or some cases ignore the cruel reality of animal testing. Millions of cats, rats, primates, dogs and other are being abused for people facilities and illnesses. In fact, an uncounted amount of animals die without compassion in every single experiment.
Since the beginning of time animals have been sacrificed for the benefit of mankind from on a traditional altar form to the lab table. The morality of animal testing is being increasingly questioned, becoming a hot topic in the media. Where does it say that because humans can express degrees of pain it is okay to test on animals instead? Both humans and animals are not only genetically similar but structurally as well, but animals also react differently to disease. Animals are tested on because humans have a superior feeling towards them because they are able to communicate and appear differently. Animals are unable to express pain in the same manner as humans and therefore are seen as unequal. The morality of animal testing comes down to whether it is right to make an animal feel pain and placed to the verge of death for the benefit another species. Animals are tested for not only for medical but also cosmetic purposes. The amount of animals sacrificed to achieve one promising test result varies from the type of test being performed as well as the consequences.
As the medical community works tirelessly to find cures for some of the world’s most deadly diseases, the use of new technology has propelled them to life-saving discoveries, allowing research and testing without actual test subjects. These cures come in the form of medications and treatments that can take years if not decades of development simply to get them ready to be tested. While some of this research is done without any test subjects, many researchers still employ a method that has been used for centuries: testing on animals. The ethics of this method has been the subject of controversy for almost as long as its use and has been a catalyst for discussion, both sides believing themselves to be right.
Every Year, 26 million animals are experimented on in the United States (“Should Animals Be Used for Scientific or Commercial Testing?” 1). These rodents, reptiles, birds, and primates are forced to endure terrible pain, hunger, suffering, and even death; yet, almost every medical breakthrough in the last century is thanks to the sacrifice of each of these creatures (“Forty Reasons Why We Need Animals in Research” 1). Although animal testing is a controversial subject that questions the morality of subjecting animals to painful experiments, it is a very necessary operation that takes place in today’s society, and is to thank for the countless human lives that have been spared.
Did you know that many of your cosmetic or household items such as laundry detergent and deodorant, has been experimented on animals? Animals are tested on to see how safe and effective cosmetic or medical products are. Using animals to test products has been a heated topic now for decades. Although humans often benefit from successful animal research, the extensive pain and suffering these animals endure for experiments that frequently conclude in misleading results, is not worth the benefit. Therefore, animals should not be used in testing the safety of products.
Poisoning, shocking, burning, and killing animals is all in a day’s work for many researchers. Animal experimentation has been a controversial debate for so long and continues to be. It is known to be the process of using animals to test the safety of medical, consumer and industry products. Many argue that animal experimentation is necessary because it provides “information that is vital to the medical community and human health in general,” (Gale) Some researchers state that animals have biological systems that are similar to humans and for that reason we use them as a guide to experiment and improve medical research. (Smith) However, in reality animal experimentation is unnecessary, it is inhumane, and is unethical, for reasons that it causes
Every year, millions of animals experience painful, suffering and death due to results of scientific research as the effects of drugs, medical procedures, food additives, cosmetics and other chemical products. Basically, animal experimentation has played a dominant role in leading with new findings and human advantages. Animal research has had a main function in many scientific and medical advances in the past decade and is helping in the understanding of several diseases. While most people believe than animal testing is necessary, others are worried about the excessive suffering of this innocent’s creatures. The balance between the rights of animals and their use in medical research is a delicate issue with huge societal assumptions. Nowadays people are trying to understand and take in consideration these social implications based in animals rights. Even though, many people tend to disregard animals that have suffered permanent damage during experimentation time. Many people try to misunderstand the nature of life that animals just have, and are unable to consider the actual laboratory procedures and techniques that these creatures tend to be submitted. Animal experimentation must be excluded because it is an inhumane way of treat animals, it is unethical, and exist safer ways to test products without painful test.
Ethics of Animal Testing An animal’s life in a laboratory is a cold, unhappy, and unhealthy way of living. Lucky for Libby however, she was rescued just in time. Libby is a small dog that spent many of her years in an animal testing laboratory. She was kept in filthy, deplorable conditions.