1. Learned from the book- Animal testing is the use of animals for experimentation. There is a very controversial debate about animal testing because of ethical issues. Animal testing is considered invasive research because the researchers who test on them are causing physical harm to the animals. One of the cruel procedures they perform on these animals involves producing lesions in the brain. These lesions are created by surgery and are put there to observe the effects on animal behavior. The goal of this research is to understand how the brain effects the animal’s behavior and if this research can be applied to humans. This way no humans are hurt, only animals. Since animals cannot speak for themselves animal rights activists speak for …show more content…
Learned from lectures- There has always been an ethical issue in psychological research. Animal testing has been a main concern for many years, however, experimentations on humans for research has been a concern too. Research with humans deals with topics such as prisons and war crime. An example of that would be the Holocaust. Numerous Nazi doctors and scientist use humans as test subjects for experiments. These humans went through tremendous amount of pain and suffering. Even though the doctors say they were doing it for advances in medical research, these humans were forced against their will to be test subjects. This was a major ethical issue throughout the Holocaust period. People thought that experiments done on humans was corrupt. Today, most people still believe that human testing is wrong, yet they continue debate about whether animal testing is right or wrong. Although more people are against human testing and for animal testing, both humans and animals went through the same thing. None of them had any say in whether or not they wanted to participate in these excruciating experimentations. In addition, research done with animals causes physical pain, emotional stress, and death just as it would with experiments done on …show more content…
Learned from Reflective Forums- Animal testing is done for various reasons. However, one of the most important is for medical research. The medical field is constantly changing and very dynamic. Animal research has brought about numerous medical benefits. We need to test on animals to continue to find new cures and new medicine for countless illnesses and diseases. Without these types of medical advances my grandma may have never had the chance to live as long as she did with Lou Gehrig’s disease. With the help of new medicines and advances in medical technology we may be lucky enough to spend more time with our loved ones. It is tragic that animals are hurt and killed sometimes during testing but overall it is worth the outcome of the experiment. We are able to save millions of lives all the time because of the information we have learned through animal testing and research. Most people consider animal testing vital for improving human health. Also, some people believe that animal testing is wrong when using it to further things like the cosmetic industry but fully support it for health reasons, while on the other hand some people are completely against animal testing. This type of controversy will always be there because everyone has different ethical opinions about animal
...Because people see animal testing procedures as unethical and immoral, it’s important for them to consider what their health would be like without the process—potentially afflicted with incurable illnesses. Continuing the animal experimenting process can only prove beneficial in promoting fewer ailments and cures to existing and future diseases.
There are many pros and cons to the practice of animal testing. Unfortunately, neither side pleases everyone- including the general public, government and scientists. Animal testing is a process that has been going on for centuries for many different reasons; finding drugs and treatments to improve health and medication. Many medical treatments have been made possible by animal testing, including cancer, HIV drugs, insulin, antibiotics, vaccines and many more. Scientists usually use animals for testing purpose because they are considering similar to humans. Animals have their differences, and are also similarities. This is what comparative medicine is about: researches use both similarities and differences to gain insight into the many complex human biological systems.
Right now, millions of animals—including mice, rats, dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs and monkeys—are locked in tight cages in laboratories waiting in fear for the next terrifying and painful lab experiment to be performed on them. (“Animals Used for Experimentation”) Such testing is used for things like biology lessons, medical training, curiosity-driven experimentation, and general cosmetic testing. (“Animal Experiments: Overview”) Animal testing should not continue in our world being that animals have rights similar to us, rights to live a life free of torture, free of being held against their will in a laboratory. Furthermore, animal testing is inhumane, it violates the lives of all animals used in such testing, it is very expensive for the inaccuracy of the results we obtain from it and it is unreliable as animals differ from humans in many ways. (“Pros and Cons of Animal Testing Facts”)
Imagine a life locked away in a cage with no form of control on your existence. It’s cold, dark, and you are scared. You don’t have a choice of what you eat, where you live, or how you are treated. You are unsure if it is day or night or what will happen to you next. You are locked away in a prison cell and you committed no crime. This is the life of a laboratory animal. Animal testing is the use of animals for scientific research purposes and experiments. It can be used for the findings of cures and medicines to testing new drugs, to understanding the behavioral psychology of the animals themselves. “Around fifty to one hundred million vertebrate animals, ranging from fish to primates, are used in experiments each year” (Lloyd). There are many different terms used to describe the research on animals but two main ideas. In vivo research is where the experiment is conducted on a live organism. In this case the animal is not operated on but rather tested in a natural living state such as exposing the animal to a toxin or chemical and documenting the side effects. The other is vivisection and can be closely related to dissection or surgical experiments on the living. It is an operation on a living animal for testing rather than healing purposes. This word is usually associated with negative perceptions such as torture, pain, suffering and death.
Animal testing should be continued because the actual processes and outcomes are exaggerated, it helps create more procedures, and it finds cures to human health problems. A sacrifice of a few animals is worth the effort of trying to preserve the presence of human beings. Animal testing is fair, as long as the pain is reduced or stopped. Animals are important, but humans are necessary in our world today.
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
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...
From when you are a baby to when you are an adult animal testing is used in your everyday products. From the Pampers you put on as a baby and the Johnson and Johnson you are washed with. To when you are older the Febreeze, Sunsilk, and Gillette you use.( Companies That do Test on Animals) Animal testing surrounds you in every act of life. “The guess is around 100 million animals are used worldwide in animal testing.” (Animal Rights) Animal testing is rooted from natural curiosity. How the insides of a living organism operate and look is an interesting idea. Because of the fact that dissection of humans was illegal by the Roman Church, animals were the second best option for knowledge of living organisms. (Animal Testing) The debate surrounding the idea of animal testing is a very heated one. There are many alternating opinions to why it is just or not.
One must remember that scientists who carry out animal testing are human to and most definitely do feel some sense of guilt using these animals for the sole reason to benefit mankind. However, “if there were good alternatives to animals that worked better or as well, for less money and hassle, scientists would use them” (Source D). Many believe that animals testing is wrong, but they must understand that at the current time there is no other option. It is difficult to find a different practice has been so substantial and has improved millions of lives and society as a whole. Animal testing, though the testing on animals may not be the best option, the after effects of testing has been successful over the past decades and will continue on this path as scientists and researchers gain more knowledge. There may be a point in time that society becomes so better off that there would be no more need to test
Dr. Jane Goodall, a primatologist and ethologist, believes that animal testing is "morally, and ethically unacceptable". In her article, "So Much Animal Pain, So Little Human Gain", she states that animal testing does not benefit for humans and how much the animal suffer in the experiment. Using animal in research can't always predict the results for humans. There are some cases that even though the experiment succeeded, it wasn't safe for humans. Around 92% of drugs that passed in the animal testing didn't work with humans (Top 5 Reason). The reason is that animals are different from humans. Even though animals can't talk or make judgments like humans, they have emotions, consciousness, and intelligence. The animals can feel stress, fear, and pain during the experiment. She claims that there are alternatives other than animals like using cells, computer models, and more. She also includes that animal testing cost a lot more than the alternatives. The biggest issue when it comes to animal testing is how animals are treated during the experiment. Although animals are protected from the Animal Welfare Act, not all animals that are used for research are not protected. With that, there are chances that they can be ...
There have been debates on whether or not animal experimentation contributes enough to society to be worth the pain that animals go through (Clemmitt). Monkeys, cats, and dogs are being killed and tortured while science has yet to find a breakthrough discovery over the decades it has been happening. Even with this type of testing there is still alternative methods that would fulfill the needs of science (Leepson). However, these alternatives are not being accepted by the testing institutions. A respected doctor in the field, Dr. Elias Zerhouni, says “The problem is that [animal testing] hasn’t worked, and it’s time we stopped dancing around the problem … We need to refocus and adapt new methodologies for use in humans to understand disease biology in humans” (PETA). With this knowledge, it is hard to condone the actions of the experimenters, who are torturing the same types of animals you have at home, the animals you call your best friends. The new technology available is said to be more beneficial to human health, and includes testing with human cells and tissue (PETA). No matter the animal, animals have a life and that life is not destined to be only one existing in a cage. Driven insane by the drugs that are being forcefully admitted these animals have no
Animal testing is an intense contentious matter that has created a division among people; there are those who support and those who are against it. Animal testing, also identified as animal experimentation is when non-human animals are used in conducting experiments, especially in medicine. There are a number of unending debates on whether animal testing should continue or not, as some groups squabble that, it is an unethical process while others argue that it is ethical since it has large benefits on the health of humans. In addition, there is another group that advocates for the use of alternatives, instead of live animals. Although animal testing is considered as an inhumane and an unethical practice, it is crucial
Animals have held an important spot in many of our lives. Some people look at animals as companions and others see them as a means of experimental research and medical advancement. With the interest to gain knowledge, physicians have dissected animals. The ethics of animal testing have always been questioned because humans do not want to think of animals on the same level as humans. Incapable of our thinking and unable to speak, animals do not deserve to be tested on by products and be conducted in experiments for our scientific improvement. Experimentation on animals is cruel, unfair, and does not have enough beneficial results to consider it essential.
Throughout the years animal rights groups and organizations have frowned upon animal experiments. Animal testing has been thought to be inhumane and cold-hearted to animals. Because of these accusations medical researchers have to suffer threats from individuals and the media. If animal testing weren’t allowed would that be a drawback in advancement in medical research? Animal testing is beneficial to people because these trails lead to improvements in medical research. Animal experiments have led to finding new cures and vaccines to fatal illnesses. Because animal experiments are helpful in making vaccines to prevent these sicknesses, these trails are the reason so many lives are saved. Animal testing is very necessary and useful to people, but animal rights groups believe that these trails doesn’t benefit humanity. According to Ellen Paul, “Breakthroughs in treating injuries, like practically all medical advances, depend upon experimentation on animals.” Animal experiments have given way to many new instruments to fight against diseases like cancer (Paul). For example, mice and other rodents contributed to scientists developing new tools for fighting different forms of cancers (Paul). Animal testing has helped science in many ways, but animal organizations like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) believe that these experiments are cruel to animals. Even though most animals endure some sort of pain during these experiments, the results are very beneficial to people.