Animal Testing Argumentative Essay

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.

Most individuals would be saddened knowing that animals were being harshly experimented on for human benefits. The testing of animals is deemed to be cruel and inhumane. However animal testing has saved thousands of humans lives. Some believe the sacrifice is worth the gains, but others disagree and suggest other testing methods. Ultimately, the question that arises on many different occasions, is if animals should be experimented on, or not.

It is estimated that each year over 100 million animals in the United States are used for animal testing (ProCon.org, 2017). This is unlikely an underestimate as it is impossible to receive a correct count worldwide. Thousands of animals are to be euthanized from the complications they endure from testing. Animals are used to test scientific developments and commercial products. New medical and non-medical experiments are tested on animals to verify the harmfulness of new medications or the safety of a product that will be used on humans. Although the importance of animal testing brings more medical advancement over the years using fewer humans in experiments, it is still an expensive way of researching inaccurate results and at the same time, it is a practice of animal cruelty.

With every new emerging disease and make up trend, hundreds and thousands of drugs are tested and evaluated before they are sold and used to ensure their safety in humans. Animal testing, also referred to as animal experimentation and animal research involves experimentation on animals such as mice, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters in labs to investigate the safety and efficiency of a variety of products ranging from medication to cosmetics and even understanding the physiology of the human body. However, with masses of animals killed each year for this purpose; this essay will aim to evaluate the necessity of animal testing as well the opposition to why animal testing should not be a part of our human nature.

Paul Furlong, Professor of Clinical Neuroimaging at Aston University (UK) states that “It’s very hard to create an animal model that even equates closely to what we’re trying to achieve in the human.” So practically, since animals are so different it is harder to use them as test subjects. Also, not all drugs and medicines that pass animal tests are safe. The 1950s sleeping pill thalidomide, caused 10,000 babies to be born with deformities was tested on animals and acted fine. It was tested again on animals and caused no major harm unless it was given in high doses. Sometimes drugs that were bad for animals were good for humans such as aspirin. That is another reason why animals shouldn’t be relied on to give accurate results if it is going to be used on humans and not on other

Animal testing has helped us for years discover cures for sickness in humans and sometimes even animals. But as long as they test the animals humanely, animals can be tortured with pain from the testing. However many efforts are being made to reduce the testing to a minimum. Scientists know that without the tests they wouldn’t know how to check the safety of new drugs.

Hundreds of lives and millions of dollars have been wasted on research regarding human prisoners. The information gathered usually can’t be used because it is not reliable, and the tests done did not follow rules that were already in place. When scientists begin to take advantage of prisoners or abuse their rights, their tests become irrelevant. Since prisoners have little to no rights, scientists use them to their own advantage. Many doctors, before the Nuremberg Code and the Hippocratic oath were enforced, made advancements in medicine by these malicious acts. These people were hurt and tortured due to the things that happened before laws were put in place and enforced. Many other problems arose from testing on prisoners and some even continue to affect how studies regarding prisoners are done today.

Another element on why experimentation on animals is wrong is because, in multiple ways, it is pointless. According to an online article titled "Animal Testing”, the main stated reason that major companies even test their products on animals is because they are supposedly watching out for the safety of human beings. Most toxic products are tested on many types of different animals. Some toxic products that are used are: soaps, detergents, oven cleaners, and toilet cleaners. What is the problem with this picture? No amount of rigorous animal testing could possibly change the fact that many of these products are harmful if ingested or used in a way not intended by the manufacturer. In other words, there is no reason to force animals to swallow any toxic products, when no matter what, they would harm any person if they choose to digest it. Another point, many different types of drugs are actually very useful to

Also animal testing normally will not yield the same results it would on humans. (Zurolo 3) Not only that, animal based tests take too long & are expensive on average. One such case where a drug was safe for animals but not for humans was a drug called Vioxx. In 2005 ,researchers found the drug had a heart protective effect in mice & other animals but the exact opposite in humans and caused heart problems. Once they found out that it caused heart problems in humans they ignored this very fact and instead pointed to the animal tests insisting it was “safe” and the evidence is there. (news -

Why are you more important than other innocent lives? Animal testing is a method of experimentation scientists use to observe the effects of a variety of things to decide if they are safe for humans. Innocent lives are being taken with little to no outcome for the majority of the experiments. This act should be illegal worldwide on the ground that scientists themselves regret their work, an abundance of animals are experimented on, and there are alternative methods that have proven successful.

Alternatives in animal testing has been a huge controversial debate around the world for years. Many researchers and scientists try to stray away from the term “alternatives” because to them, it suggests that no animals whatsoever can be completely replaced. 1 The CAAT, the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing, is based on the principles of the ‘3Rs’: replacement, reduction, and refinement. Replacement basically means the way it sounds, the animals are replaced by other methods not involving animals such as in vitro techniques, which contain human cells and tissue models that can imitate real life organs of the human body. Reduction and refinement, the other two Rs, means to cut down the number of animals used in a particular study

Evidently, applying information from animal research to humans can be problematic. Problems of extrapolation are inevitable when researchers use animals to model and study human diseases. Inefficient products sold on the market can cause great liability and expense if buyers find the commodity inefficient, harmful, or generally unproductive. If buyers are not willing to buy the product and the demand for the product declines, then that would mean thousands of animal lives were wasted on a commodity that was not even successful in the market. Daniel G. Hackam, M.D., and Donald A. Redelmeier, M.D., state in their “Translation of Research Evidence From Animals to Human,” that “The majority of animal experiments do not contribute to improving human health, and the

As society grows with age, it strives to advance in all areas of life. With the turn of the century, a major advancement in all aspects of science, including medicine, is to use laboratory animals to test potentially dangerous substances and research if the substances would be compatible with humans. Many people have issues with animal testing as they believe it is inhumane to use animals to put them in potentially dangerous situations. However, much progress has been made using animal research. The information gained from animal research has paved the road to everything from hair restoration to cancer treatments. Animal research has progressed humanity into new levels it could only dream of and should remain an essential practice.

Animals are used by scientists to develop research for new medications and experiments daily. The Humane Society is working to decrease the use of animals in laboratories by promoting the advancement of affective alternative approaches. Animal testing provides a useful model for treatments of diseases and possible cures. According to the US-based foundation of Biomedical Research, animal testing has made a major advance within the last century- for veterinary health and humans. The practice of using animals for testing has been debated for many decades. Is it morally right or wrong to use animals during experiments? Does federal law ensure that animals used in research are treated humanely? When considering the benefits of animal testing,

The proponents of animal testing reiterate that it has played a very crucial role in developing numerous medications and treating various medical conditions. On the other hand, those against animal testing posit that it is extremely cruel because it subjects animals to a lot of pain and ends up killing not only animals but humans as well, especially when the experiments do not work as intended. Animal testing also cost a huge amount of resources and money considering that the animals must be fed, treated, housed etc for a certain period, which is relatively long. We should not forget that in most cases this drugs may react differently in humans and animals body hence rendering animal testing unreliable. Animals used for experimentation purposes are often caged or kept in enclosed surroundings and this automatically generate stress for the animals thus their reaction to the medicine cannot be compared to the reaction they could have in their natural environment. While I have mentioned a number of cons and pros to animal testing, I strongly believe that the results and solutions found through animal testing will never be precise. There is completely no relation between human physical conditions and those of animals. Besides, we have alternative methods to substitute the procedure of animal