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Animal testing must be banned
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“The question is not, ‘Can they reason?’ nor, ‘Can they talk?’ but rather, ‘Can they suffer?’’ This quote by Jeremy Bentham, a British philosopher and animal rights activist refers to the unjust treatments of animals and their helplessness towards the cruelty they suffer from humans. Animal testing should be banned because it is not proven that the product is safe even after being tested by animals, the living conditions lab animals are required to be in are not healthy for any animal, and newer technology can be used as a substitute for animal testing. As the dominating species, we have the upper hand in situations like this but if the roles were reversed and we were lab animals, we wouldn’t want people to be using us as their testers for products that could potentially kill us. Several makeup tests that are usually tested on mice, rats, and guinea pigs consist of tests for the irritation of the skin and eyes where chemicals are put on shaved skin or dropped into an animal’s eyes without any relief for the pain being caused to them. Also, a generally denounced lethal dose test is carried out on the lab animals where they are forced to ingest large amounts of a product’s chemical for scientists to conclude on what is the exact dose that can cause death for the people who buy the product. Animal testing should be banned because there is no guarantee that the tested product still won’t be harmful to humans. “There is growing awareness of the limitations of animal research and its inability to make reliable predictions about human health…Some of the main limitations of animal research are…Animal studies do not reliably predict human outcomes, reliance on animal experimentation can impede and delay discovery, and animal studi... ... middle of paper ... ... don’t. With more people voicing the wrongs of animal testing we can turn the few whispers of disapproval in a crowd into a crowd of people making a strong and bold statement that everyone will come to know about. Works Cited Cothran, Helen. Animal Experimentation: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 2002. Print. Haugen, David M. Animal Experimentation. Greenhaven Press: San Diego, Calif., 2000. Print. Lankford, Ronald D. Animal Experimentation. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2009. Print. Murnaghan, Ian. "Using Animals for Testing: Pros Versus Cons." Using Animals for Testing: Pros Versus Cons. N.p., 02 Sept. 2013. Web. 07 Dec. 2013. "Problems with Animal Research." -The American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS). The American Anti-Vivisection Society, 2013. Web. 07 Dec. 2013. ProCon.org. "Animal Testing ProCon.org." ProCon.org. 9 Dec. 2013. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
The roots of animal experimentation began in the early 1600s when the world expressed in interests on the functions of animals and their uses in human life. However, it wasn’t until the incident regarding the drug thalidomide in 1960 did the government make it a requirement for drugs be tested on animals. During the incident, millions of women took the medication believing that it would be a source of relieve from morning sickness, not knowing however that it would cause irrevocable effects on their unborn children (Watson 4). Although the ruling seemed to provide a sigh of relief to some, the very idea of placing animals in strange uncomfortable environments and experiencing pain and euthanasia angered many. According to the American Anti-Vivisection Society, commonly known as AAVS, It is wrong to treat animals as objects for the purpose of scientific research, and to cause them pain and suffering (“Animal Research Is Unethical and Scientifically Unnecessary”). Although the arguments against animal experimentation seem credible, animal testing on medicines and products are necessary in order to insure the safety of human beings.
The information that animals have provided scientists over the past decades has changed society, and is still changing society for the better. Millions of lives have been saved with the use of animal testing and many more will be saved with continued research. However, there are many who dismiss this monumental achievement completely and oppose the use of animals in laboratory research. Though many find this practice to be
“If you want to test cosmetics, why do it on some poor animal that hasn't done anything? They should use prisoners who have been convicted of murder or rape instead. So, rather than seeing if perfume irritates a bunny rabbit's eyes, they should throw it in Charles Manson's eyes and ask him if it hurts.” (DeGeneres, DG). Think about those animals imprisoned in cold cages, having nothing to do but wait, waiting in fear, knowing that when the time comes their cages will be opened, but not to set them free. Unable to react, unable to defend themselves, they rot in pain and mourn with isolation. And yet all we, humans, do is sit back and watch them suffer. Animal testing is the abuse of animals to develop new products. Although some people are against animal testing others agree that animals are needed in researches to find upgraded and new cures for developing diseases, to find advanced aesthetic products, and to find refine household products leading to a more satisfying quality.
“Animals and Research Part 4: Ethics of using animals in research.” Editorial. Seattle Post-Intelligencer 20 Apr. 2000 <http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/anml4.shtml>.
"Animal Research Alternatives" The American Anti-Vivisection Society. N.p., 21 Jan. 2009. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Although it may seem like animal testing is not really a big deal, it is and it should be treated as
Using animals for medical experimentation, product testing, and education is a controversial subject that often leads to a large argument. While the problems can go into detail, the suffering involved in animal experimentation is painfully clear. Every year there are tens of millions of animals that die in federally and privately funded experiments. A projected 90 percent of all animals used in research are rats and mice, and many other species including guinea pigs, dogs, cats, rabbits, nonhuman primates, and farm animals are killed every year to animal testing. (UGA) The experimentation of animals and testing has not stopped because it is not the most accurate or reliable means of research, but because of the tradition, peer pressure, and large amounts of funding from those with strong invested interests into the business. (UGA)
The ethics behind using animals for experiments and tests has been questioned and debated for years. Many people believe that animal experimentations can be crucial towards medical breakthroughs such as the cure for cancer, HIV/AIDS or asthma. Meanwhile others argue that animals that are used to test cosmetics such as make-up and perfumes are inhuman because is not going to help improve the human race. Animals suffer through multiple types of torture such as being forced to ingest poisonous chemicals, blinded, burned, stapled, and infected with disease viruses. Even though animal experimentation may be considered inhumane to many, animal experimentation is crucial to advancements in medical research and can lead to a better quality of life; on the other hand, animal experimentation should not be used to develop cosmetics because such experimentation is cruel and unnecessary.
Each year, millions of animals, ranging from mice to monkeys, suffer through the cruel and inhumane practice of animal testing. Scientist throughout the world are torturing animals for mankind’s own benefit, which is unreliable in most cases. “According to Humane Society International, animals that are used in experiments are commonly subjected to force feeding, forced inhalation, food and water deprivation, prolonged periods of physical restraint, the infliction of burns and other wounds to study the healing processes and the infliction of pain to study its effects and remedies.” Although humans often benefit from successful animal research, these animals do not have a voice to say no. The pain, suffering, and deaths inflicted on these animals are not worth the possible human benefits. Scientist test the animals for many products that we humans can use (makeup, medicine, etc.). Many of the items we purchase on a regular basis have been tested on animals first. Most of the animal testing is unreliable.
Throughout history, beginning as early as 500 BC, animals have been used to test products that will later be utilized by humans (“Animal Testing” 4), what isn’t publicly discussed is the way it will leave the animals after the process is done. Many innocent rabbits, monkeys, mice, and even popular pets such as dogs are harmed during the testing application of cosmetics, medicine, perfumes, and many other consumer products (Donaldson 2). Nevertheless, there are many people whom support the scandal because "it is a legal requirement to carry out animal testing to ensure they are safe and effective” for human benefit (Drayson). The overall question here is should it even be an authorized form of experimentation in the United States, or anywhere else? The fact of the matter is that there are alternatives to remove animals out of the equation for good (“Alternatives” 1). They are cheaper, and less invasive than the maltreatment of the 26 million innocent animals that are subjected to the heartlessness of testing each year (“Animal Testing” 4). All in all, due to the harsh effects of animal testing, it should be treated as animal cruelty in today’s society.
Picture yourself in a testing laboratory; needles, drugs, and knives pointed in your direction with you having no idea what’s going on around you, this is how animals everyday are treated, we have to stop this now! Millions of animals are killed in laboratories everyday with no chance to object to what the testers are about to do to them. Animals feel as much pain as humans do so why does it make it okay to test on them when they are so alike to humans? Every day people test makeup, shampoos, and medicines on animals, the strange thing is that animals have different skin, hair, and internal organs than humans have. Since the animals have different internal organs than humans only 5-25% of the testing results are agreeable between animals and humans. Humans don’t allow animals to have the right to say that they don’t want to be tested on, but humans have the rights to say they do or do not want to be tested on. There are many non-animal alternatives that humans can use to test products, but many testers refuse to use them. Do you think that these animals enjoy being tested on?! Animals are being tormented everyday in laboratories, animal testing must stop!
Today, millions of animals are being tested for the use of human products, causing them to fall ill and die, leaving them no choice but to be experimented on. Animal abuse can be more than what meets the eye. Specifically, animal testing is a form of animal abuse and usually ends in the death of a harmless animal. Some might say that there is no other way to test products, but due to the harm that is done and our advancements in science, animal testing should not be tolerated. Our advancements in science have enabled us to create other things that we can test on, instead of harming innocent animals.
Animal testing is one the most beyond cruelty against animals. It is estimated about 7 million innocent animals are electrocuted, blinded, scalded, force-fed chemicals, genetically manipulated, killed in the name of science. By private institutions, households products, cosmetics companies, government agencies, educational institutions and scientific centers. From the products we use every day, such as soap, make-up, furniture polish, cleaning products, and perfumes. Over 1 million dogs, cats, primates, sheep, hamsters and guinea pigs are used in labs each year. Of those, over 86,000 are dogs and cat. All companies are most likely to test on animals to make patients feel safe and are more likely to trust medicines if they know they have been tested on animals first (PETA, N.D, page 1). These tests are done only to protect companies from consumer lawsuits. Although it’s not quite true, Humans and animals don’t always react in the same way to drugs. In the UK an estimated 10,000 people are killed or severely disabled every year by unexpected reactions to drugs, all these drugs have passed animal tests. Animal testing is often unpredictable in how products will work on people. Some estimates say up to 92 percent of tests passed on animals failed when tried on humans (Procon.org, 2014, page 1). Animal testing can’t show all the potential uses for a drug. The test results are...
National Anti-Vivisection Society (2012). The failure of the animal model. Retrieved from http://www.navs.org/science/failure-of-the-animal-model. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (2013). Animal testing 101 -.
Orlans, F. Barbara. In the Name of Science:Issues in Responsible Animal Experimentation. New York: Oxford UP: Oxford UP, 1993.