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Should animals be used for scientific and/or commercial testing?
Many people are left wondering whether animal testing should or should not be allowed when discovering advantages and disadvantages of new products. Animal testing is a debated-topic. The reason this subject is widely-conversed is because many people question the safety of the animals and the effectiveness of using animals rather than alternatives while experimenting the potential effects of a product. Animal testing is the use of animals for research and development projects to determine the safety of products for human use (Dictionary). Scientists such as Aristotle and Erasistratus have been experimenting on animals since 384 B.C. (Hajar). PETA tells us the shocking statistic that ninety-two percent of animal experiments that work for animals are proven not to work the same in humans. (PETA) So why should we +waste our time when only eight percent of the experiments work
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Researchers say without animal experimentation we would not have many medicines we have today or the knowledge we have gained from animal experimentation to make scientific advancements (Badyal). Many of the cures that we have developed over the years are only present because of the research that has been performed on animals (Brooks). It was shown that a percentage of deaths decreased due to founded information from the testing (Brooks). Doing the research helps scientists get a better idea how to cure Cancer and other serious illnesses (Brooks). In the past centuries, medical research has only been possible through animal testing. Since then, however, many alternatives have been created (Badyal) that prove to be more reliable and have been used in vital research such as treatments to certain diseases (Badyal).These alternative methods to animal tests are said to be less expensive and to have more predictable
Without animal research, cures for such diseases as typhoid, diphtheria, and polio might never have existed. Without animal research, the development of antibiotics and insulin would have been delayed. Without animal research, many human beings would now be dead. However, because of animal testing, 200,000 dogs, 50,000 cats, 60,000 primates, 1.5 million hamsters, and uncounted millions of rats and mice are experimented upon and die each year, as living fodder for the great human scientific machine. Some would say that animal research is an integral part of progress; unfortunately, this is often true. On the whole, animal testing is a necessary evil that should be reduced and eliminated whenever possible.
Testing animals is used to develop medical treatments, determine the toxicity of medicinal drugs, check the safety of products intended for human use, and other biomedical, commercial, and healthcare roles. The earliest recordings of animal studies date back to Aristotle, who discovered the anatomical differences among animals by analyzing them (Introduction). Advocates of animal testing say that it has enabled the growth of numerous medical advancements, tests to see if new products are save for mankind, acquisition of new scientific knowledge, and because it is accurate (B). Opponents of animal testing say that it is cruel and inhumane to try out on animals, many animals die from the animal testing, it’s unethical, animals don’t have a say in it, the accuracy is in question because they are testing animals and not humans, and the toll of animal testing is high (B). Through the pros and cons of everything, it is bad to test animals because animals are very different from human beings and thus make poor test subjects and are unreliable, the cost and upkeep of it is expensive, and because there are alternatives to animal testi...
At the turn of the new century, activists begun to protest the morality of animal experimentation: “… such methodology is far too cruel on beast, it cannot better mankind, but its lead to it demise…” Despite the rising concern for animal safety in laboratory research, federal legislations approved the practice. According to the federal bureaucrats, it is an essential tool to improve our current medical knowledge. Hence, most of the tested animals have a relatively shorter life span than human. Thus, it allows to test long-term disease in a smaller timeframe. Nonetheless, animal enthusiast request the banishment of animal experimentation in laboratory. Ergo, with our current technology, researchers are capable to reproduce the same result
Animals should not be used as test subjects for any research. The innocent and helpless animals’ rights are being violated when they are involved during animal experimentation. These unfortunate animals do not have a choice whether or not they want to be involved in testing. They are not intended for people to experiment on for their own selfish reasons. It is not right to take advantage of the animals because they are helpless and cannot protect themselves. Animals and humans have similarities; they both behave, feel, think, and experience pain. Therefore, animals should be treated with the same respect as humans. The pain and suffering an animal is forced to endure is not worth any new product. It is cruel and inhumane to take advantage of an innocent animal. These tests that use animals to ensure the safety of products are extremely common without people even knowing about it. It is not fair to these animals to abuse their beauty. They are helpless and cannot control what is happening to them. Animal experimentation should be stopped because it violates the rights of animals and harms or even kills the animals.
Animal testing has been used for developing and researching cures for medical conditions. For example, the polio vaccine, chemotherapy for cancer, insulin treatment for diabetes, organ transplants and blood transfusions are just some of the important advances that have come from research on animals (“Animal Testing”). Consuming animals for research benefits in developing various treatments and also benefits in discovery better methods for cures. According to the article “Animal Testing”, it says that the underlying rationale for the use of animal testing is that living organisms provide interactive, dynamic systems that scientists can observe and manipulate in order to understand normal and pathological functioning as well as the effectiveness of medical interventions. It relies on the physiological and anatomical similarities between humans and other animals (MacClellan, Joel). Meaning that animals have the same body components and features as humans and is the best thing to research on to better understand the human development. Even though several argue that animal testing is harming the animals, one has to think back to all the benefits that has come from it. There may be a little remorse for endangering animal lives, but realizing how far medicine has come makes it worth the while.
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.
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 an important factor to boost our understanding of medication and to improve our understanding of science. Animal testing, to some, is the way to ameliorate our level of living and preserve 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 damage 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.
When someone goes to the store and buys a product, or is prescribed medication, they don’t have to worry if the product is safe to use nor should they. The entire human race benefits from animal research. “Without animal research, medical science would come to a total standstill”(O’Neil 210). It is not as if Scientist and researchers just sit in their labs all day and torture animals for fun. Not to mention animal use is being reduced as much as possible, “most scientist are glad to use alternative test because they are usually faster and cheaper than test on animals”(Yount 72). However, “you cannot study kidney transplantation or diarrhea or high bloodpressure on a computer screen”(O’Neil 212). Besides, “Animal research has led to vaccines against diptheria, rabies, tuberculosis, polio, measles, mumps, cholera, whooping cough, and rubella. It has meant eradication of smallpox, effective treatment for diabetes and control of infection with powerful antibiotics. The cardiac pacemaker, microsurgery to reattach severed limbs, and heart, kidney, lung, liver and other transplants are all possible because of animal research”(O’Neil 210).
Since experiments are cruel and expensive, “the world’s most forward-thinking scientists have moved on to develop and use methods for studying diseases and testing products that replace animals and are actually relevant to human health” (“Alternatives to Animals”). Companies claim that this sort of cruelty will benefit the human population by testing the “safety” of the products, as they have been for hundreds of years, and although this may have been helpful in the past, scientists have discovered otherwise. “While funding for animal experimentation and the number of animals tested on continues to increase, the United States still ranks 49th in the world in life expectancy and second worst in infant mortality in the developed world” (“Animal Testing Is”). This evidence shows that while we still continue to support and spend money on animal testing, it is not working as well as we thought.
Animal testing has become a controversial issue among many people in the world today. Some of these people involved in this controversial debate believe that animal testing is unethical and should be replaced by other methods. The other group of people in this debate believe that animal testing is necessary in order to research new products that cannot be tested on humans. Traditional animal testing forces animals to undergo numerous experiments for different forms of research. Medical, cosmetic, and many other types of research experiments use animals to provide the results on how the new product may affect humans. There are many people that support the use of alternative methods to animal research and then there are also many people who are opposed to the idea. Alternative methods to animal testing should be supported because it is cruel and inhumane, animals may not provide accurate results, and there are numerous alternative methods that can be used without harming the animals. Opponents believe that traditional animal testing provides better results because animals are similar to humans, they have a shorter life expectancy, and it allows researchers to experiment on a whole living body system.
Using animals for research and testing dates all the way back to 384 BC when Greek physician-scientists such as Galen, Erasistratus, and Aristotle conducted experiments on living animals. They used these experiments to help advance the understanding of anatomy, physiology and pathology. There is no denying that animal research has contributed to improving human health. Vaccinations against polio, measles, hepatitis and other diseases have all been found thanks to the use of testing on animals. However, that does not change the fact that animal testing for our own benefit is inhumane, costly and is often not reliable. For these reasons, I believe that there should be alternative ways for testing that do not involve harming animals, are cost-effective,
Hundreds of millions of animals die every year from animal testing in the United States. Innocent animals are used everyday in laboratories for biology advancements, medical training, curiosity-driven experimentation, and chemical, drug, food, and cosmetic testing. They are used to provide information to make better products that are safe for human use. Although animal experimentation has some benefits, the negatives outweigh the positives. Animal testing is killing off innocent beings for the possible human benefit, and with modern technology, there are alternative ways to test products that leave animals unharmed.
The argument for animal testing is that it yields pertinent information that provides human health benefits. People are under the misconception that animal experiments help humans because experimenters and universities exaggerate the potential of animal experiments to lead to new cures because of the role they’ve played in past medical advances (Animal Rights, 2015). Animal experimentation doesn’t persist because it’s the best method, it persists because of personal bias and tradition.
However, as people think about animal rights, and the news that animals are suffering in the experiment, people began to consider stopping all animal testing. Animal testing should not be banned, because it both benefits humans and animals, especially the medical animal testing should be reserved. According to the book “Science, Medicine, and Animals” by the Committee on the Use of Animals in Research, National Academy of Sciences (1991), the animals also provide protection to a lot of endangered animals. Scientists can invent medicine, which is used to treat animal diseases, from animal experiments.
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 ...