Animal Research Controversy

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” (Mahatma Gandhi). Scientists have been using animals for biomedical research for centuries. They provide a source to get information scientists can not get without harming humans. A lot of debate is spread about whether it is good or bad. Animal experimentation is a controversial topic because it is helpful to humans, but it is also cruel and inhumane.

“Lots of people talk to animals…Not very many listen, though…That’s the problem”(Ben Hoffman). The controversy of animal testing is phenomenal; it always has been. I remember dissecting animals throughout my years of school in the "name of science". It was only until recently that I started questioning the government 's methods to teach us. We dissected a dog shark in my oceanography class last year. There had to been at least 80 dead sharks in about four different buckets; that was when it crossed the line. I understood a lamb eye or something, but breeding sharks in captivity just so they can be killed? Animal testing is wrong in every way to me.

Everyone has benefited from the use of animal research in one way or another. My sister was diagnosed with asthma when born and without the help of animal research asthma would still be incurable. Experiencing this history with my sister I went into this research with a large bias for animal research. I found that research on animals is not a new discussion, “[h]umans have been using other vertebrate animal species…as models of their anatomy and physiology since the dawn of medicine.” (Franco 239) The ancient Greeks used animals for experiments with no question of morality ever being raised because of their “ranking in the scala naturae (the chain of being).” (Franco) Every major era came with a new dispute over how to handle animal

Animal experimentation has been a commonly debated subject for many years, is it cruelty or science? Millions of animals die each year from animal testing. This is because of harsh ways animals are treated like by their experimenters. Animals should be free of the cruelty scientists expose them to. They have just as much sentient as humans do. Millions of animals a year are subject to being imprisoned and having terrible procedures done.

The controversy behind animals as research subjects is mainly one of morals and the ethical treatment of said animals. Many people believe we should use them in this way, so we aren 't actually harming people in the pursuit for better things for humans. Though animal testing was a viable resource for many years, it has proven to be extremely controversial and unethical, therefor the use of animals as research subjects should be outlawed.

How could one not feel guilty when looking into a test animal’s eyes and seeing all of the pain and suffering that they have endured? Over 75-100 million animals are used for scientific and medical research per year. (Baumans) Animals should not be used for scientific and medical research because it is unethical, humans and animals are not genetically identical resulting in failed tests, and there are other techniques to conduct research.

The animal experimentation is very difficult issue with a lot of people feeling very strongly of it, we are use the animals for the experimentation in different way, one of most big problem is for test the cosmetics, the images of animals with things put in their eyes for so we are able to look a bit better make many people very angry. Is it necessary?

Animal testing is also known as animal experimentation is the act of testing drugs, chemicals, cosmetics and acid on animals such as; dogs, cats, rats, mice, ferrets, hamsters and monkeys for many purposes. Today I will be focusing on cosmetics. Cosmetic companies create makeup, lipstick, foundation, blush, highlighters etc. All of these products are tested on animals before use on humans and I believe that this is wrong and should be banned in all countries.

The subject of animal testing when it comes to religion is exceedingly debated. As long as there is no unnecessary pain inflicted onto the animals and there is a real possibility of benefit to human beings, then Jewish, Christian, and Muslim teaching allows for animal experimentation. On the other hand, many people believe that since religious traditions, such as Hindu or Buddashism, tell us to be merciful to animals, we should not cause them suffering by experimenting on them.

Where would we be without antibiotics or vaccines? The medical advances made to overcome medical obstacles were a massive impact in improving public health and medical research. Though there are medical general practitioners that have concerns about reliability of the animal data,” it is good scientific practice to maintain a healthy degree of scepticism and avoid over-reliance on any one set of data or research method”(Festing, Wilkinson, 2007). Some of the most impactful events that occurred with animal researching lead to the development of vaccines, antibiotics, diabetes research and organ transplants which includes the heart valve and the kidney.

This dichotomy remains relevant as certain groups of animal rights activists continue to progress research towards more humane protocol (Galvin & Herzog, 1992), while research advocates believe such practices are necessary and should involve less hindrances in order to fulfill research goals (Lyons, 2011). Precedent suggests that the majority of surveyors support animal research due to its benefits in furthering medical applications (Dolan, 2002; Lund, Morkbak, Lassen, & Sandoe, 2014), yet animal rights advocates have endured a historic conflict. Such advocates have perpetuated paradigmatic discussion for contemplating the weaknesses in animal research policies (e.g. the subjective scaling of research severity – mild, moderate, severe) (Lyons, 2011). When analyzing the perspectives of advocates and adversaries through history and studies, the ability to determine the ethicality of animal research is impossible. More legislation against animal research is not necessarily the answer, but one political solution has been to settle the dissension through a personalized assessment of individual cases (Rollins, 2006). If animal research continues, a case-by-case analysis of research studies is the only ethical manner to appease the tension between advocates and adversaries.

A lot of human success is due to vivisection, otherwise known as animal experimentation. Some experiments involve infecting animals with a deadly disease, poisoning them for testing toxicity levels, and subjecting them to other painful, and even life threatening experiments. There are new alternatives ways of testing without involving the lives of helpless animals, it is no longer necessary to test with these creatures. They do not provide scientists with completely accurate information. Although it is now deemed as cruel, in the past, animal testing was responsible for many cures.

In the article “Research on Animals: Unforeseen Benefits,”1 the author, Adrian Morrison (1991), believes that biomedical research requires the use of animals due to the “long term gains” acquired (p. 176). Morrison continues to explain how people who believe that animals should not be tested on are not thinking about the effects these animals could have in the lab. He begins explaining how he believes that research

Speaking of research said “scientists in the US use approximately 11-25 million animals in research, of which only less than 1 million are not rats, mice, birds or fish.” Animal testing began 400 years ago as a study to see how blood circulated in the body. It is now used to test how animals react to products so it can be modified for human use. Aristotle and Rene Descartes are just two of many who supported to the purpose of testing animals. In 1866 the first movements started in England to stop “the use of animals in medical research.” Scientists also use animals as test subjects for suspected carcinogens. Animal testing is defective because it fails to be beneficial to humans and animals.

Just in the United States, it is estimated that just over twenty-five million animals are used each year for animal research. These animals range anywhere from mice and rabbits to farm animals, those such as sheep, pigs and even dogs and cats. Once an experiment is done, the animal is either euthanized or used for additional experiments. Animal research is morally wrong because these animals go through inhumane procedures, it leaves the animal diseased, exhausted and may even lead the animals to death.