Persuasive Essay On Animal Testing

1280 Words3 Pages

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. Humans and animals have many characteristics in common. Animal skin and organs are similar Primates and some other animals are captured from the wild. There is even a market for laboratory animals where licensed dealers sell animals to research companies. These animals can come from places such as puppy mills, an establishment that breeds puppies for sale. Some dealers even go to the extent of baiting animals in from the streets with meat and sedatives, and others will pose as animal control officers. Flyers for “Lost pet” and “will give to good home” are responded by the wrong individuals. Some of these suffering animals were once pets that were loved and treated like family. To know that a family member is being treated unkindly and has to suffer for something they do not deserve is never desired (Peta). To predict the effect it will have on humans, many different tests are performed on animals. A test created by John Draize, called the Draize eye test, is tested for eye irritancy. This test looks for the damage that chemicals may cause to the eyes. During the test, a substance is placed in a rabbit’s eye and the rabbit is observed in intervals. There are many consequences such as bleeding, ulcers, and blindness for up to three weeks and may even result in the death of the animal (aavs). Of the several experiments performed on animals for research purposes, they all appear to affect the animal Scientists follow the “three R’s”. The “three R’s” are replacement, reduction, and refinement. Scientists are trying to substitute experimental animals with other more ethical replacements (Monamy 5). Some alternatives are EPISKIN or EpiDerm, which are reconstructed models of the human epidermis that can be used in skin testing and experimentation (niehs). Another alternative product is artificial fake human eyes. Human tissues and cells can be developed and studied. Also, they have made the chicken eye test in which eyes are taken from slaughterhouses and used to identify chemical damage. Fortunately, the eyes are not useful and trashed at the slaughterhouses so scientists would only be helping the corporations out. There is also the Ames test which uses certain bacteria strains to perceive genetic changes rather than using animals’ genes (aavs). The second “r” is reduction, which means to reduce the number of animals being used. Scientists are continually repeating the same work over and over. There is too much unnecessary and repeated research being performed (Sherry 8). The third and final “r” is refinement, which means refinement of field and laboratory methods to lessen insensitivity and produce more valuable results (Monamy 5). Using the “three R’s”, scientists and researchers strive to use lifeless subjects or subjects that can feel no

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