Persuasive Animal Testing

Every day on TV There are commercials for the animals being beaten, abused, and abandoned but why is it nobody ever talks about the animals that were actually killed or injected with harmful diseases just to test if it will cure a human or save them from dieing? Scientists run over 20 million tests on animals around the world just to see if a chemical can kill a pathogen that will better the human race and not always the animal they are testing on race. Yes, the tests we run on these animals may keep humans safe but these tests/experiments need better regulation and stricter laws.

Every day tests are run on animals for the better of the human race. “Animals are used to understand basic biology, as “models” for studying human biology and disease,

and as test subjects for the development and testing of drugs, vaccines, and other biologicals (i.e. antibodies, hormones, ingredients in vaccines, etc.) to improve and advance human health” (Biomedical Research).

By doing these tests scientists have found cures for thousands of different diseases like polio, Swine Flu, and Malaria and are able to test them before bringing them to the table and actually injecting humans with Vaccines and cures. There is one problem with those vaccines, and that is even if they pass an animal test, they are not always safe for human use. “The 1950s sleeping pill thalidomide, which caused 10,000 babies to be born with severe deformities, was tested on animals prior to its commercial release” (Top pro con arguments). Later scientists found that if they administered Thalidomide in extremely high doses, it would not result in birth defects. By doing these tests scientists have saved millions upon millions of lives and made it so people can comfortably leave their house and not

feel the need to cover their face with masks just so they can go to the grocery store and not feel like they will die just for taking a step outside. Scientists have also used animals to test different treatments for cancer and physical injuries, so that doctors can find out how to heal a broken bone faster and try to finally cure cancer. The human race can thank the millions of animals that were tested on so that millions of people can live comfortably, But why is it that humans don't try and better the animals at the same time and try to cure diseases that harm them at the same time?
There are seven billion people on Earth today and every year a little over 13 million animals are killed being tested on to find the cures to all the diseases that threatens the people of the human race lives today. That means that about 538 people are saved by the death of one animal but not every animal that dies actually finds a new cure. “The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported in 2010 that 97,123 animals suffered pain during experiments while being given no anesthesia for relief, including 1,395 primates, 5,996 rabbits, 33,652 guinea pigs, and 48,015 hamsters” (top pro con arguments). 97,123 is the number of animals that suffered pain, and did not die. Imagine how many animals did die in pain. Twenty million animals are killed in total every year by tests and experiments to better the human race. If thirteen million are killed to find cures for disease and illness that means seven million animals are killed during other experiments or mistreatment. The worst part is an estimate of almost three million animals are never even tested on and are just killed from being in captivity. Is that not almost the same thing as animal cruelty or neglect? Over all too many animals are being killed to better our lives and there is very little regulation over how these animals are being treated and killed every year in the United States alone.
Luckily there are laws in place to protect Certain animals from being tested on.

The laws in place Protect about five percent of the animals around the world from being tested and experimented on and restrict certain ways of testing. Sadly, the other ninety five percent of those animals are the animals that are most commonly tested on and were the most commonly used animals for testing even before the laws were put into place. “The AWA does not cover rats, mice, fish and birds, which comprise around 95% of the animals used in research, the AWA covered 1,134,693 animals used for testing in fiscal year 2010, which leaves around 25 million other animals that are not covered” (top pro con arguments). Luckily scientists have found new ways to do the Tests they have been running on animals in a laboratory setting or out of a petri dish, but the results they get are considered inconclusive because it's not on a living organism or human like condition. “Testing, such as studying cell cultures in a petri dish, can produce more relevant results than animal testing because human cells can be used” (Top pro con arguments). Animals are poor test subjects to relate to humans because Animals are not built the same way humans are. “The anatomic, metabolic, and cellular differences between animals and people make animals poor models for human beings” (Paul Furlong).” But are animals actually treated like humans in the first place? There are also no laws in place to restrict how animals are

contained. These animals are kept in closed and not in human like conditions so how can we expect human like results?
Basically how animals are being tested on is not acceptable. Yes, testing is important and needs to be done but in a better way. We need better regulation for how many animals are being captured, tested on, killed, mistreated, and unused in any tests and we just need more/stricter laws against what animals and how animals are tested on.