Although animal testing was a main component for the facilitation of medical research in the past, it is no longer necessary due to the option of alternate testing methods. Animals that fall victim to the mercy of animal research are subject to experimentation for the purpose of manufacturing harmless products (McKnight 2). Cell cultures, the MIMIC system, TraumaMan, in vitro, and human volunteers are substitutes for this inhumane procedure (Sullivan 4; “PCRM Scientists Educate” 10). Animal testing is a cruel, outmoded method that sacrifices the lives of innocent animals, despite the availability of humane alternatives.
In the twenty-first century, it is illegal for humans to be guinea pigs for research unless they volunteer themselves. On the other hand, animals are robbed of the choice aspect of the decision to play victim for harmful experiments. They are guaranteed suffering due to the inhumane nature of the animal research where they are operated on, forced to consume toxic substances and chemicals pumped inside of their stomachs and eyes (“Save the Animals” 1). Aristotle, a renowned theorist, emphasized the importance of animals receiving proper nutrition, social interaction, and a natural environment for a fulfilling existence (Rollin 3). However, the vulnerable animals who are experimented on never have a chance for this kind of life because they are sent to research facilities with little consideration for their welfare (“Save the Animals” 1). They are kept in metal cages called isolators where convenience takes priority over comfort and safety. The animals’ housing conditions results in serious mental and physical afflictions, and, even, death. This living arrangement has caused chickens to peck one another to death due...
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...McKnight, Peter. "It's a Dog's Life, and It Matters." Vancouver Sun 5 Feb. 2011. 15 Jan. 2014.
Park, Miyun. "The Globalization of Animal Welfare: More Food Does Not Require More Suffering." Foreign Affairs 91 (2012). 14 Jan. 2014.
Park, Miyun. "The Globalization of Animal Welfare: More Food Does Not Require More Suffering." Foreign Affairs Mar.-Apr. 2012. 15 Jan. 2014.
"PCRM Scientists Educate Governments, Cosmetic Companies on Nonanimal Tests." Good Medicine 1 Feb. 2009. 16 Jan. 2014.
Rollin, Bernard E. "The Moral Status of Invasive Animal Research." Utility and Morality: Contemporary Tradeoffs (2012). 15 Jan. 2014.
"Save the Animals: Stop Animal Testing." Save the Animals: Stop Animal Testing. 21 Jan. 2014 .
Sullivan, Kirstie. "Good Medicine." The Latest In Sept. 2009. EBSCO Animals. 14 Jan. 2014.
Throughout the last century the concern of animals being treated as just a product has become a growing argument. Some believe that animals are equal to the human and should be treated with the same respect. There are many though that laugh at that thought, and continue to put the perfectly roasted turkey on the table each year. Gary Steiner is the author of the article “Animal, Vegetable, Miserable”, that was published in the New York Times right before Thanksgiving in 2009. He believes the use of animals as a benefit to human beings is inhumane and murderous. Gary Steiner’s argument for these animal’s rights is very compelling and convincing to a great extent.
The article provides specific examples of illnesses and diseases which have been cured by animal testing that both humans and animals have benefitted. This supports my topic of animal experiments being used for medical advancements. Pointing out that law often requires that products be tested before being sold to the public, George and Wagner additionally help prove my claim that product testing is a purpose of animal experimentation.
“We take care of animals, and the animals take care of us.” (Rollin 212). The preceding phrase is a policy that American farmers in the old west lived their lives by. Modern farmers live do not live their lives anywhere near to this phrase because they own factory farms, and the whole reason for having a factory farm is to fit as many animals in a small space as possible in order to maximize profit. Factory Farms, or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) first appeared in the 1920s, right after Vitamins A and D, because if animals are given these vitamins in their diets, exercise and sunlight are not necessities for the animals to grow anymore (In Defense of Animals 1). The growing number of factory farms is coupled with the decreasing population of rural areas, which means that many people are beginning to factory farm because it yields a higher profit (“Agricultural Sciences” 170). In the 1950s, the average number of chickens on a given egg farm in the United States was 100, but now the average number is a shocking 10,000 chickens (“Factory Farms” 4). The reason for the increase of chickens has to do with new and cheaper technology developed just after World War II. The new technology increased the number of chickens, while it had the opposite effect on dairy and meat cows, their numbers went in the other direction. The number of cows used for milk was cut by more than half between 1950 and 2000, because farmers discovered new and more efficient methods for milking cows (Weeks 4). Many activists for animals’ rights are concerned about the methods used by factory farmers because they confine their animals into tight spaces and since there are so many of them in a small ...
In “An Animals Place,” by Michael Pollan, he discusses the atrocious pain animals face every day to support the public. Although, “The Omnivores Delusion: Against the Agri-intellectuas” by Blake Hurst, annotates the mandatory tactics a farmer has to execute to support the growing population with limitless food. The Population is constantly growing, and we have to have a food system to continue to grow with us, however without one the public could go hungry.
The issue of animal testing has become an important topic of debate because despite the cruel and inhumane treatment of laboratory animals, people who support animal testing claim that the research benefits are phenomenal and surely outweigh the animals’ pain and suffering. I feel as though the question of whether or not animal testing is immoral is an easy answer. Animal testing on any species is unethical and should be abolished as soon as possible because it is a form of animal cruelty, provides inaccurate results, and there are better alternatives that can be pursued.
Millions of animals are being unneedlessly tested on for cosmetics, even though there are plenty of alternatives available and most of the results are unreliable or not applicable to humans. Although the fight against animal testing has made huge progress recently, America has yet to stop this cruel practice and chooses to torture animals while other countries are making a stop to the testing (“Animal Testing 101”).
Every year millions of animals such as rabbits, cats, and mice are used to test new products such as cosmetics, household cleaners, and medicines that often lead to poisoning and even death. In China, it is required that all products are tested on animals before being released to the public; on the contrary, the United States does not have this same requirement (Facts). As a result of the Animal Welfare Act being signed- making it illegal to test on humans- scientists use animals because the tests are similar to human testing. Only 6% of animals used in assessing the safety of new medicines and vaccines suffer in great pain because using anesthetics would alter the validity of the data (Kanade). Animal testing is the most effective technique for evaluating medicine and cosmetics because the animal’s anatomy is similarly structured to humans. Mice are the mos...
"Cosmetics and Household-Product Animal Testing | Animals Used for Experimentation | The Issues." PETA. N.p., 2014. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/cosmetic-household-products-animal-testing/ .
"Update: Animal Testing." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 31 Mar. 2006. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. .
Millions of animals are used to test consumer products, but they also become victims to experiments for medical research. In The Ethics of Animal Research (2007) both authors state that there have been many medical advances with the development of medicines and treatments as a result of research conducted on animals (para 1). These medical i...
Current animal testing has been a contentious subject ever since it started off 150 years back. Although a lot of people discover animal testing inhumane and egoistic, it is a important factor to boost our understanding of medication and to improve our understanding of science. Animal testing, to some, is the way to ameliorating our level of living and preserving many lives, and therefore has many benefits. On the other hand, the negatives may not be passed, and scientists are constantly trying to decrease the damages with some methods they create in the process. Even so, to the dismay of numerous animal lovers in addition to those who are endeavoring for animal rights, animal testing will not be stopped every time soon because, for now, it is the most trustworthy form of testing that includes the safety of daily products we use more carefully than any other procedure.
America focuses heavily on its livestock and crops earning us a major role in global trade as a farming nation. Unfortunately this has led to some poor choices in treatment of our animals. Many farmers who believe in animal rights say that it started back when farmers only tended to fewer animals, “Ownership of farm animals became concentrated in fewer hands, and flocks and herds grew larger. As a result, the individuality of animals was lost to their owners and they began receding from most people's everyday life” (Namit 29). When people lost their connection to the animals that provided their food, the quality of the animal's lives began to dramatically decrease. Consumers constantly pushed farmers to their limits with high quotas. To keep up with demands agriculturalists turned to some unorthodox practices to keep costs low and still maintain their annual quotas; “To raise efficiency and cut costs, farm animals began to be engineered for abnormally rapid weight gain, fed unnatu...
...e Animals and Satisfy Meat Eaters?” Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 21.6 (2008): 580-96. Web. 3 Apr. 2014.
Experimentation has been performed on animals such as rats, mice, and primates in testing various products from cosmetics to drugs. The experimentation of animals usually involves pumping a substance into the animal’s stomach or applying it to the skin and eyes; they are confined to cages and not allowed the freedom of their natural way of life. According to a report by PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals),” this causes great stress and discomfort to the animals (2011).” The animals may not die, but they are scared and maimed for the rest of their lives. Practices such as this are still used today even though there are cheaper and more conclusive ways of conducting this testing; in vitro (test tube), genomic, computer modeling technique, and human volunteering. These research methods are more humane, cost effective alternatives to animal testing. “The harms to the animal conflict with perceived societal benefits that will result if ...
Animals are used in research to develop new medicines and for scientists to test the safety of the medicines. This animal testing is called vivisection. Research is being carried out at universities, medical schools and even in primary and elementary schools as well as in commercial facilities which provide animal experiments to industry. (UK Parliament) In addition, animals are also used in cosmetic testing, toxicology tests, “defense research” and “xenotransplantation”. All around the world, a huge amount of animals are sentenced to life in a laboratory cage and they are obliged to feel loneliness and pain. In addition scientists causing pain, most drugs that pas successfully in animals fail in humans. It is qualified as a bad science. Above all, animals have rights not to be harmed even though the Animal Welfare Act does not provide them even with minimal protection. The law does not find it necessary to use current alternatives to animals, even if they are obtainable. Animal testing should be banned due to animal rights, ethical issues, alternative ways and the unreliability of test results in humans.