Animal Experimentation And The Animal Welfare Act

As of 2015, 200 to 225 million animals are said to used in laboratory research for the biomedical industry annually worldwide. Typically defended by arguments of reliability and human health benefits, recently the question of ethics and values placed on animal testing have caused it to become a relevant and pressing topic that has been more widely discussed and debated. First off, the laboratory conditions that are instigated upon millions of animal models for the sake of medical research has been said to be unethical and cruel. Additionally, it has been debated that the results of animal experimentation are unreliable across a wide range of areas. Lastly, animal testing not only leads away from the direction of resources from more effective testing methods but also prolongs the duration of time humans may need to wait for an effective cure. Therefore, the potential benefits of animal experimentation are greatly outweighed by the risks and collective harm of humans and animals which is why resources should be directed towards more human-based testing procedures.

Around the world, millions of scientists conduct their studies by testing their research on animals. Many people believe that experimenting on animals is crucial to the advancement of medical discoveries. Studies show however, that animal experimentation is brutal and unnecessary. There are alternatives though: “replacement, reduction, and refinement” (Howard 2).

Animal experimentation is used widely across the world. Millions of animals are put through horrifying experiments all for research purposes. This is because it is thought by many people that animal experimentation for research purposes is the best technique to gain knowledge on diseases and find cures, which is not true. Whatever goes on beyond laboratory walls has no limit. Famed primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall stated, “In no lab I have visited have I seen so many chimpanzees exhibit such intense fear. The screaming I heard when chimpanzees were being forced to move toward the dreaded needle in their squeeze cages was, for me, absolutely horrifying.” This quote is an example of on of the horrific things that can be seen behind laboratory walls. The animals there are kept in barred or concrete cages. They sit in their cage, suffering from pain, loneliness, and stress, waiting for the next painful experiment to take place. After, being put through pain, loneliness and terror the animals are usually killed when they are done being used. Experimenting on animals is wrong in many ways. It goes against animal rights, the results are not reliable to humans; making it a waste of time and money, and it causes a great deal of unnecessary pain for animals. With that being said, animals should not be used to experiment on for research purposes.

Throughout history, animal experimentation has played an important role in leading to new discoveries and human benefits. However, what many people tend to forget are the millions of animals that are tortured or killed during the process of these painful, deadly experiments. Many people seem to misunderstand animal nature and the laboratory procedures and techniques that are executed on the animals. The procedures are cruel, unreliable, and harmful. Luckily there are more humane alternatives that have also proved to be less expensive.

Every life has a choice. Every choice has a reason. Every reason has a purpose. All answers come into place. Why? Now that is the question people ask themselves on a daily basis when trying to find human cures or treatments. Why are the experiments having this sort of effect? Why have the experiment subject’s internal organs disintegrated? Nevertheless, people assume test subjects to be volunteering humans, the homeless, or desperate aliens who are willing to do anything to cross the border or country. In reality, animals [mainly cats, dogs, and mice] are the ones that endure experimentation for the future of mankind. Even though animal testing helped discover treatments for aggressive diseases and safely determined the outcome of mankind, it still sidesteps the fact that animals are their own being, it violates the Animal Welfare Act of 1970, the discovery of humane methods shows it to be beneficial, and the test results will soon become void for the benefit of mankind.

To begin, the experimental use of animals in medical studies is unethical. These creatures are confined in isolated cages where they are deprived of necessary environmental elements. It is not uncommon that they undergo ghastly methods of experimentation; including the inhalation of toxic fumes, the burning of their skin, and the crushing of their spinal cords ("People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals"). This information sheds light on the grim realities of animal experimentation. These creatures are living, breathing beings that do not deserve to be treated as they are nothing more than lab objects. Not only are they ripped from their natural habitats, but are forced to endure an irreversible psychological trauma . To put it in perspective, imagine a six-month-old child being taken from their parents and sent to a lab to undergo scientific experiments that could ultimately result in

The harmful use of animals in experiments is not only cruel and inhumane but also often ineffective. Animals do not get many of the human diseases that people do, such as major types of heart disease, many types of cancer, HIV, Parkinson’s disease, or schizophrenia. There have been past occasions where drugs passed on animals weren’t even safe. There is no excuse for animal testing in today’s techy world, there are now many alternatives for animal testing that would put an end to the pain and suffering endured by these innocent animals during human testing.

A life can be taken or created in a matter of seconds and with that has come the miracles of modern medicine. People have come to expect science to save lives, prevent illness, relieve suffering and improve the quality of life. The means of curing, treating and preventing diseases are not achieved by magic or accident. Medical advances are gained through years of intensive research -- research in which laboratory animals have played, and continue to play, a critical role. Opponents of animal testing are wrongfully determined that this process is completely unethical.

At this moment, tens of millions of animals, such as rats, rabbits, monkeys, cats, and dogs, plus more, are being locked inside cages in labs all throughout the country due to being used in horrific experiments. These animal experiments are used to develop and enhance new drugs and to test the safety of products before being used on humans. Many of these experiments inflict pain to the animals and decrease their satisfactory of life. More than a hundred million animals suffer and die every year in the U.S. from medical education and clinical experiments, as well as merciless chemical, drug, food, and cosmetic tests. Animals also suffer and die in classroom biology experiments and dissection.

A long time of debates go back and forth on the rights of all animals with further argument or debates, do humans have the right to use animals on medical testing and lab use? There are several issues that can be placed in this argument this research will acknowledge four important topics in the rights of animal testing. Is it right to use animals for testing? Is it right to compare animal DNA to human DNA in these animal experiments? Is it right to use real animals instead of computers to generate results? Is it right to state animals are being protected and cared for while giving toxins to make them sick? Therefore, the question needs to be asked if animals should be used for scientific experiments in labs all across the globe.

While opinions on the matter differ greatly, animal testing has been ongoing since at least 500 B.C., and frankly, old habits are harder to break than new ones (animal-testing.procon.org). Like the extensively tested mouse in the short story “Flowers for Algernon”, many creatures are experimented on daily. The mouse, Algernon, went through daily tests that displayed his artificially increased intelligence; that is, until his foreseen but nonetheless tempestuous plummet in health (Keyes, Flowers for Algernon). Animals should not be used for experimental research potentially harmful to them because it is unnecessary with our advanced technology, expensive, and testing is often followed by misled

Animal experimentation is validated simple by the benefits it has created in both our medical fields and the veterinary field. The advancements over the past century are astonishing. Backed by the weight of scientific literature the case that animal experiments can produce scientifically valid results is clear, strong and sustainable. Protesters opinions on these matters often overlook any of the positives about testing, for instance, cosmetic testing is illegal in the UK, the Netherlands and Belguim. Furthermore, primates only make up 0.001% of animals tested on, and cats and dogs are only 0.5%. Also, laboratories are checked on at least 12 times randomly throughout the year to make sure that the high standards of animal care are being kept (Nuffield Council 39). Animal researchers

In addition to the fact that animal experimentation is ineffective, unreliable, and costly, testing on animals also violates animal rights. Do we think that just because we are superior to animals that we have the right to subject these innocent creatures to cruel and painful experiments? The superiority humans feel over animals may be the reason why humans feel less troubled by inflicting pain on animals. Or perhaps humans justify this cruel act by saying that animals would not be used in experiments if their use was not absolutely necessary. The pain and misery these animals are put through is absolutely unjustified, especially since the experiments they are subject to are proven to be unnecessary and even pointless. As Ingrid Newkirk states, animals in the laboratories are "under constant stress from fear, the loss of control over their lives, and the denial of all

Imagine being trapped in a cage for a lifetime. Picture being tortured through “experiments.” This is the life many animals in biomedical research are forced to live . Nowadays, most of the animal experiments are conducted on mice, rats, fish, and other animals that are excluded from the Animal Welfare Act of 1966. Animal experiments cause psychological and physical harm to the animals with a complete lack of respect for their quality of life which is why they must be banned.

The method of using animals for lab testing is very cruel and inhumane. Studies show that when an animal is in a laboratory, it feels lonely, trapped, isolated, and the animal is in complete misery. One shocking fact is that the U.S law allows animals to be tortured and killed. They allow scientists to do whatever they want to the animal to reach their goal. The scientists force the animals to drink chemicals and many other things that can be harmful to them and that later ends up damaging many parts of the animal's body. Even after the animals endure all the pain, they get put back into their cage without having anything to stop the pain. Many animals are in danger of losing their lives due to the cruelty and inhumanity of animal testing in labs.