Animal Testing Essay

In our ever-changing world the race to find the best technological advancements has never been higher. Progress within the medical field has changed drastically in the last 50 years. “Health is driven by the technologies that cure the unhealthy. These technologies need to advance along with an advancing society. In the last five decades new and improved, less expensive, medicine has been produced” (Leonard). Behind all this advanced medicine are the technologies, or creatures, that are used to test and improve the medicine. Animals are used to test the drugs and medicine that are in route to be produced for human use. “The term "Animal Testing" refers to procedures performed on living animals for purposes of research into basic biology and diseases, assessing the effectiveness of new medicinal products” (Humane Society). There are people who side with, and agree that animal testing improves the lives of humans, and there are individuals who believe the harm this research brings to animals is unreasonable and can be prevented.

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.

Many experiments done in today’s society are questionable according to the standards set today by ourselves, and others. A large example, without a doubt, is the experimentation of chemicals and other drugs on animals.

To those who aren’t animal lovers, it is understandable that they would not have much of an opinion on this. But, these animals that are being tested are receiving “Cruel and Unusual punishment” and it is not leading to cures for serious illnesses. So, to those who are animal lovers, it can seem very wrong that a dog or cat, which could be part of a family, is being killed for no purpose. Animals have about 95% of the same genes humans do. So, although this sounds really close, it is not close enough to develop effective drugs for human use after testing them on animals. Humans do not have fur and four legs, and no animal can talk, feel, and understand. Find another source for this para.

Using animals for research is not reliable in predicting the outcome of new chemicals on the human body system. According to American Anti-Vivisection Society, “Nine out of ten drugs that appear promising in animals studies go on to fail in human clinical trials.” That indicates that almost ninety percent of traditional animal experiments fail in human trials. Although humans are similar to animals, they still do not have the exact genetic make up as animals. American Anti-Vivisection Society claims that, “Even the same species have similar differences that can be found among different genders, breeds, ages and weight ranges, and ethnic backgrounds.” For example, humans react to new products differently because nobody is genetically the same. Some people experience the therapeutic effect of a drug and then others may have an allergic reaction to the drug. Even in the human species researchers see that not all drugs or products produce the same ideal results that are expected. If there were such wide variations of results between the same species why would it be logical to test products intended for human use on animals? This is a question that most advocates for alternative methods to animal testing would ask.

In today’s humanity, multitude amounts of animals are mistreated and eradicated during animal testing. Because testing on animals has become a law throughout the world, a lot of scientists have not realized the immortality that has been put upon the animals. Is it fair to test cosmetics and potential carcinogens on animals? During each year, millions of animals are tested on for biomedical research, chemical testing and training (Lee Bowman 2011). Testing cosmetics and chemicals on animals is catastrophic because it is abusive, detrimental and carcinogenic.

Imagine being a rabbit; a vertebrate and warm blooded species. Hopping around an open field and eating all greens. All of sudden, you were captured by an unknown human. You start to rattle around your cage figuring out how to escape. About “twenty-five million and 30 million” animals are exploited in experiments; “half are only used through education” (Donna 7).

Testing on animals for pharmaceutical products is happening all over the world with not much talk about it. “For drugs and biologics, the focus of animal testing is on the drug’s nature, chemistry, and effects (pharmacology) and on its potential damage to the body (toxicology)” (FDA, “ Why Are Animals . . .”). A lot of people read on the label time and time again “Product Tested on Animals” not knowing just how cruel some of these testing methods actually are. “Vaccine testing in particular consumes an estimated 2.5 million animals every year because vaccines are often produced by weakening, inactivating, or detoxifying a virulent microorganism or toxin. Each batch of the finished product is then tested on animals, causing them pain, suffering,

Imagine being thrown into a tiny cage containing 5 other humans. The only time you're taken out is when a strange creature yanks you out, and pushes you into a different room containing some more humans and more of these strange creatures. You look around. The other humans are in small contraptions that force them to keep their head up. The creature that was escorting you shoves you into one of these contraptions and leaves. Now another creature arrives wearing a long white coat. This creature is carrying an eyedropper filled with a liquid that you have never seen before. It also has a strange looking

Millions of animals are being tested and half of them died each day because of these tests. The animal should not be treated thing way because how would you feel if people were taking body parts out or put in. Many of these animals are going extinct because of the tests.According to reporters”Animal testing has never really worked. In fact, 90 percent of medications approved for human use after animal testing later proved ineffective or harmful to humans in tests on humans(By KELLY OVERTON).One might think that testing these animals

Throughout history, animals have repeatedly been used for testing for biomedical research, food, transportation, and as a companion. Animal experimentation has played a significant role in leading to new findings, human advantages, and many medical advances that have helped us in the past decades (i.e., several diseases). While most argue that animal testing is necessary, others say it should not be accepted and causes suffering to innocent animals because the balance between the rights of animals and their use in medical research is a delicate issue with huge societal assumptions. However, the pros outweigh the cons, as scientific experiments on animals are necessary to advance medical and biological knowledge. Animal testing is, and will be, a critical stage for the medical and biological research.

Also, at the University of Rochester School of Medicine a group of experimenters put fifty beagles in wooden boxes and tested them with different levels of radiation by x-rays. Twenty-one of the dogs died within the first two weeks. The irritated dogs suffered vomiting, diarrhea, and lost their appetites. Later, they hemorrhaged from the mouth, nose, and eyes. In the experimenter’s report, they compared the experiment to others of the same nature, each using about seven hundred dogs. The experimenters said that the injuries produced in their experiments were “typical of those described for the dog”. Another inexcusable experiment was conducted by the Food and Drug Administration. They gave thirty beagles and thirty pigs a pesticide in their food, seven days a week for six months, “in order to insure tissue damage”. Within eight weeks, eleven dogs showed signs of “abnormal behavior” including nervousness, salivation, muscle spasms, and convulsions. After experimenting with additional twenty beagles, the experiments concluded that massive daily doses of pesticide produce different effects in dogs than they do in pigs. These three experiments, according to reports, obviously caused the animal to suffer greatly before dying. No steps were taken to prevent this suffering, even when it was clear that the radiation or poison made the animals extremely sick. Also,

Today’s society is focused on the affects of diseases on the human body, and how to prevent the side effects associated with the disease. The controversial topic of using animals as research subjects is highly debated of whether it is necessary to save lives or inhumane to the animals. Every year, animals are experimentally used to determine the effectiveness, side effects, toxicity and safety of medications. Personally, I was aware of the testing being done on animals, but did not know much about it, and was therefore indifferent in the debate. However, after doing research, I have come to the conclusion that the cons outweigh the pros and animal testing is inhumane.

Right this second, millions of animals are in cold empty cages waiting to be put out of their pain and misery. Around the country, animal testing trials are going on right now, as we speak. Many do not consider that those animals that are tested on are not taken care of properly, when animals are in pain and scared, they give off negative results, but most importantly, people and animals are different, which creates inaccurate results. PETA is an organization to help protect animals against cruelty. On their website it states, “The only U.S. law that governs the use of animals in laboratories—the Animal Welfare Act—allows animals to be burned, shocked, poisoned, isolated, starved, forcibly restrained, addicted to drugs, and brain-damaged” (“Animal testing is bad”, n.d., para. 21). We do not protect our animals as well as we should, but on top of that, these animals

“Beauty without cruelty” is the outcry that can be heard from animal right activists around the world. The FDA does not require companies to perform tests on animals but if the cosmetic product contains chemicals that can be seen as toxins, testing becomes a necessity. There are currently thirteen safety tests that are performed on animals.