Animal Testing
Procon.org stated that an estimated twenty-six million animals per year are used for scientific and commercial tests in the United States of America. Animal testing would not be so widely used if people took into account the alternatives to animal testing, the accuracy and efficiency of animal testing and its alternatives, and the cost difference between animal testing and alternatives to it. Animal testing has been used since five hundred B.C. (procon.org). Out of all of those reasons the most important one would be the alternatives to animal testing which would be able to eliminate the use of animal test subjects altogether.
ALTERNATIVES According to The Humane Society of the United States most animals that are used in
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According to the New England Anti-vivisection Society non-animal tests are more accurate, and faster than animal tests. Also, alternative scientific tests are more reliable than animal tests (Alternatives). For example, animal tests on rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, mice, monkeys, and baboons showed no link between glass fibers and cancer but when human tests were performed a link was found between the two (Alternatives). Additionally, when tests on skin irritants were performed on rabbits the test results identified ten out of the twenty-five irritants correctly with a forty percent error (Alternatives). When this same test was performed on the artificial skin product, Epiderm, all of the irritants were identified correctly with no error (Alternatives). Another example of this is the fact that toxicity testing with human tissue is more accurate (Alternatives). Compared to the Lethal Dose 50 test (LD50), donated human tissue used in toxicity testing had 85% accuracy, while LD50 had 60-65% accuracy (Alternatives). Another alternative test called the DakDak is used to measure the effectiveness of sunscreen (Alternatives). In contrast to animal testing, when the DakDak was performed it got through five to six products in the time it takes animal testing to do one and at half the cost of …show more content…
According to Humane Society International a non-genotoxic cancer risk test performed on a rat costs seven hundred thousand dollars, while a SHE test costs only twenty-two thousand dollars. Some tests can take months or years to perform and study and they cost thousands of dollars (Costs). On the other hand computer modeling techniques are much faster and also are much cheaper when compared to animal tests (Costs). Also in vitro tests cost much less than animal tests (Costs). For example in an Androgen Hormone inter test performed on a rat it would cost thirty-seven thousand dollars when an in vitro test would only cost seven thousand three hundred dollars to perform (Costs). In addition to that, when a Estrogen Hormone inter is performed on and OVX it costs twenty-nine thousand six hundred dollars, but when performed in in vitro it only costs seven thousand two hundred dollars (Costs). As well as when a pyrogenicity test is performed on a rabbit it costs four hundred and seventy-five to nine hundred and ninety dollars, but when it is performed on a LAL then it costs eighty-five to one hundred and sixty dollars (Costs). In this exact same test there is also a cheaper alternative option called Endosafe or IPT which only costs eighty-three to one hundred dollars to perform (Costs). Also, a test called the embryotoxicity test costs fifty thousand dollars to perform
Not only are there many other alternatives for animal testing, but it is inaccurate and cruel. This is why animal testing should be banned in the United States. Many people have pets of their own. Would you want your pet to be locked up and poked with needles? Animals are just as important as we are. Numerous countries have already banned animal testing. Israel, Norway, India and the European Union have all realized that testing products on animals is only doing harm. If we come together as a nation, we will have the potential to stop animal testing. Let’s make a
Animal testing is not only beneficial to human but also animals, at least to those who are not used in the experiments, such as pets and endangered species. Along with researching for new treatments and medicines for
Animal testing is a common practice in current life that is necessary to ensure the safety of the humans that will be using the tested product. There are many good and bad aspects of animal testing, but the pros clearly outweigh the cons. Animal testing has been around since ancient times when animals were dissected to gain knowledge about the body and organs. The animals killed from animal testing make up a tiny percentage of the total animals killed every year. When just considering the animals used for food compared to the animals used for testing, testing animals make up a mere 2.6 percent of that number. Public safety far outweighs the lives of the small amount of animals killed.
There are over 26 million different types of animal being tested on for research each year in the United States. Animals are used for testing every year for human research. Different animals go through serious pain, in order for humans to facilitate growth in different fields of study. Many animals are used in order to study diseases and potential cures for the diseases. New research chemicals are tested on animals with similar structures to humans, to see if the medicine can help with certain diseases. Tons of scientific advancement has taken place because of animal testing. Without animal testing, many diseases would still exist, without a safe way to test for potential cures. The issue at hand is the type of treatment that animals have to endure because of the different testing methods. They are treated very poorly, go through intense suffering, and normally have very poor living conditions. A pro to animal testing is that many cures and different medicines have been developed through animal testing. Without animal testing, many diseases would still exist without cures. Secondly, animals have a much shorter life span than humans do, so scientists can study the results through the whole life span of the animal. With humans, it is hard to do a full test because we have such high lifespans, while animals tend to live a lot less longer. Thirdly, many animals have been saved because of animal testing. Many diseases animals deal with now have vaccines and cures, as a result of animal testing. Without it, many animals would have rabies or other types of virus that can be detrimental to the animal’s health. On the contrary, a con to animal testing would be the pain many animals go through as a result of the testing. The tests are experimental, so we don’t know exactly what the chemical drug will do to the animal. Many cases have turned bad and many animals have died as a result, or gone through extensive pain. Next, there are many alternative methods of experimental testing that doesn’t require animals. As a result, why are we still using animals for testing when there are other ways to do it. Finally, animals are different from humans, so they make poor testing subjects. We can’t know for sure how the research
Humane alternatives are fast and you can get your results quickly, yet they do not involve any harm towards animals. One of them can be Vitro International’s Corrositex, it is a synthetic skin that can provide a chemical corrosivity determination from as little as 3 minutes to no longer than four hours, unlike animal testing that often takes two to four weeks. This alternative is also said to cost $50,000 annually, and that is just the average from one customer while the US drug industry that supports animal testing spends $50 billion per year in research yet on average each animal testing takes two to four weeks. Another alternative is DakDak, an alternative test which is used to calculate the effectiveness of sunscreens, was reported to work in a matter of days while it takes animal studies months to do so. On top of that, it estimates that it tests five or six products for less than half the cost to study a single product in animals. And so, these alternatives are much faster, meaning it can hold more research and this leads to more information which will help us physically. Others may state that alternatives may cost less, but aren’t as effective. They state, “Living systems like human beings and animals are extremely complex. Studying cell cultures in a petri dish, while sometimes useful, does not provide the opportunity to study interrelated processes occurring in the central nervous system” Human beings are much harder
Animal testing has been going on for years; however, few question the ethics of testing medicines that would cure human diseases on animals. Various animals being tested in labs and cruelly force them to be a host of harmful diseases negatively affect their health. Animal testing is cruel and unusual punishment and should discontinue. Animal experimentation is a subject that many know of but don’t know much about. Although it is a big topic, people still don’t pay much attention to it because of their lack of information. Experimenting is a cruel process that causes many innocent animals to suffer. Many cases of violations towards experimenting have been found as well. Testing on animals is unnecessary when laying down the
“Over 100 million animals are burned, crippled, poisoned, and abused in US labs every year” (11 Facts). Animal testing is a very flawed creation in today’s world. This innovation has caused much harm to many animals while also hurting the opinions of animal activists around the world. Animal testing is also known as the use of animals in experiments and development projects usually to determine toxicity, dosing and efficacy of test drugs before proceeding to human clinical trials (Biology Online). The use of animal testing has been around for throughout all of history, it also carries its disadvantages as they diminish the lives of many animals along with their unspoken opinion while also having some advantages, and lastly this notion is very expensive (Scutti).
Animal testing is first and for most pointless and a waste of time and money. After the passing of an animal trial, there must always be human trials as well. Since animal testing is unreliable, the real testing still solely relies on the human tests. This demonstrates that this method is unnecessary. Greek and Greek argue that “those who say we test on animals to avoid testing on people are wrong. Once animal studies are complete, all new medications are evaluated on humans. The first people to take a new substance are being experimented on as surely as if they were guinea pigs locked in a laboratory” (59). In addition to that, the 21st century has brought many new advances in technology and science and because we have these new advances, animal testing now is completely unnecessary. Bif Naked states, “It doesn't just make sense for animals, but for people, too, because state-of-the-art non-animal tests offer a far more reliable way to predict how consumers like you or me will react to a product in the real world.” While many of these method have not been explored fully, they are still extremely promising, less harmful, cheaper, and produce more accurate results. Rachel Rutter states, “Effective, affordable, and humane research methods include studies of human populations, volunteers, and patients, as well as sophisticated in vitro, genomic, and computer-modeling techniques.” None of these methods
Animal testing is wrong for various reasons. The history of animal testing goes back to the writings of the ancient Greeks and is defined as any scientific experiment or test in which a live animal is forced to undergo something that is likely to cause them pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm. Examples of animal testing include: forcing mice and rats to inhale toxic fumes, force-feeding dog’s pesticides, and dripping chemicals into rabbits’ eyes. Although, many people believe that animal testing has contributed to many life-saving cures and treatments, innocent animals used in laboratories are deliberately harmed, for a company’s benefit, and are usually killed at the end of the experiment. Animal testing has negative effects on not only animals, but on society and the economy. Some reasons why include, but are not limited to: alternative methods exist that are safer, ethical, and cheaper; billions of dollars are wasted each year on animal testing because neither the corporations nor the customers are benefiting from it; and just because the product is tested for animals, it does not necessarily make it safe for humans. Therefore, because animal testing is unreliable, leads to billions of wasted dollars, and causes an incredible amount of animal suffering, we must begin to use alternative methods and raise awareness about this huge issue.
Animal testing is a cruel and a horrible way which scientist are able to test chemicals on
Animal testing is the cause of many controversial arguments. Is it ethical? Is it truely the best option? The answer to both of these questions is no. Animal testing is both cruel and unreliable. There are many alternatives to animal testing that would be safer for humans and animals alike. Although it cannot be completely eliminated at this point of time, steps need to be taken to minimize animal experimentation as much as possible.
“Each year, more than 25 million animals are used for scientific research in the U.S.” (Ericson). Animal testing has been around for hundreds of years, and it has cause excruciating pain, suffering, and even death to helpless animals. Testing on animals needs to be against the law and no longer be used as a way to examine products. Some ways to solve this would be to ban animal testing over the whole country and to start testing on new technology. All of our technology today, and new technology being built everyday could test products without harming any animals. Animal testing is becoming a worsening problem in the United States and to end it, the government must ban testing on animals and start using technology as a way to examine products.
Not all medicines that work on animals work on humans. According to ProCon.org “92% experimental drugs that are safe and effective on animals fail on humans because they don’t work or are to dangerous”. I think that if most medicines don’t work then they should try a different method that works better. Maybe if they used a different method it would be better and more effective. One way to not use animals is called In Vitro. In Vitro is the simulation of living organisms by using things such as petri dishes. It also takes more time to do research on animals rather than using In Vitro. According to ProCon.org “Animals make better test objects because of their shorter life span”. If you use In Vitro you don’t have to worry about animals dying.
This group is interested in the safety evaluation of chemicals or biological products based on alternative methods of testing strategies, performed by the industry in lieu of good old but crude conventional toxicity testing in live animals(Liebsch, Grune, Seiler, Butzke, Oelgeschläger, Pirow, Alder, Riebeling, & Luch, 2011, pg.849). A lot of medical breakthroughs involving animal research may still have been made without the use of animals and resources dedicated in finding new solutions. The ZEBET wants to find an effective way to reduce and replace the use of animals in testing. Many different species of animals are used for testing, but the most common include mice, rabbits, birds, dogs, monkeys, and much more. Common procedures used is forcing chemical exposure to these animals by force-feeding or having chemicals injected into their body. I disagree with this misuse of animals, if animals are providing us with finding out new things that can help, then why would people want to hurt them. This group also found that scientists prolong periods of physical restraint and inflict wounds on these animals. The result of this is most of all animal testings fail in human clinical trials making them useless.
Anti-testing activists deem these unnecessary and consider them to be cruel. “Fourteen million animals are used currently in the U.S. to test toxicity and irritancy of cosmetics and household products” (Hannah). Many new forms of safety tests are being developed by companies to save money along with the lives of innocent animals.