Animal Testing Should Not Be Banned

Throughout the years the use of animals in medical research has been a hot debate around the world. Although animal testing may be cruel and inhumane, thousands of humans are saved thanks to the research that animals supply researchers with. Animals testing have taken over our knowledge of medicine and treatments to a whole different level. Animal testing also does this in a cheap and effective way. Without animals testing out knowledge wouldn’t be up to date, in other words animals’ testing is good.

For many years, the field of science has used animals in medical experiments worldwide, because of this innocent animals are being killed everyday. They are being tested with new drugs, new treatments, and by many makeup companies. Connecticut recently celebrated the passage of the “Beagle Freedom Law”, a law that requires laboratories to work with charities and rescue groups to find homes for research cats and dogs. Animals are being tested so humans do not have to be but animal tests do not reliably predict results in human beings, although animals are the closest thing to humans. Most experiments involving animals are flawed, wasting the lives of innocent animal subjects. Over 100 million animals suffer a year from testing. Testing animals is a lot more expensive than alternative methods and it is wasting government research dollars. Animal testing is not only a bad idea, but it is also inhuman and it should not be tolerated. The FDA should stop allowing animal testing. An animal does not give out the same results on a test than a human would.

“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).

An estimated 26 million animals are being tested on yearly. Animal testing has helped humanity in many ways ever since it started about 2,500 years ago. Cures have been created for many viruses and sicknesses but it has come with a cost to the animals. Animals are being put in horrendous living conditions that often cause them anxiety and pain. People in favor of animal of animal testing argue that we should keep testing on animals to further scientific research, while those against animal testing believe that there are other ways to achieve the same results.

Animals used in laboratories dates as far back as the 17th century (Unknown, 2015)6. When I first read this statistic, it was surprising because the amount of time testing has been around really makes one think about the advancements made because of that. Due to the amount of time animal testing has been around, two general groups have formed in response to this. The people advocating for it are commonly part of the science community or anyone that supports what science hopes to accomplish and then there is the community of people who would not want animals to have to endure the pain from being tested throughout their entire lives. In this paper I will be presenting two perspectives on the topic regarding the use of animals in laboratories. The first perspective will show how animal testing is extremely beneficial to the world of scientific research as well as to the world in general. While the second perspective will show how the animal rights activists believe that the animals being tested on should not be forced to go through painful testing procedures.

“People first started thinking of the ethics and cruelty to animals in 1714. It was not pet owners who first wanted to change the treatment of animals, it was the people who worked with agricultural operations” (Guither 2). The testing of animals is used all over colleges, medical schools, and pharmaceutical companies. It’s a fact that examiners experiment on animals for research on genetics, education, behavioral studies, drug testing, toxicity testing, cosmetic testing, and breeding.

Animal testing has contributed to many life-saving cures and treatments. Using animals for research has also provided major advancements in understanding and treating conditions. The California Biomedical Research Association states that virtually every medical breakthrough in the last 100 years has resulted directly from experimenting and researching on animals (1). Some see animal testing as cruel and inhumane. However, others see animals as a chance to make improvements in today’s society. Animal testing allows humans to make advancements, not only in the medical field, but also in everyday life.

For centuries, the ethics of animal experimentation in the biomedical field have been questioned. Do the benefits of animals used in research outweigh the pain the animals endure? Animal rights activists will argue there are new alternatives that there are more accurate than animal testing. The success of trials on animals, has led to the continued use by scientists within the medical field. Additionally, testing on animals instead of humans puts humans out of harms way. The first Animal Cruelty Act was created in 1835 to regulate the use of animals for scientific purposes. According to Franco (2013), the “Enactment of the 1986 Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, remains the only known legislation to regulate animal experiments for nearly 50 years.” Even so, there will continue to be two sides of animal research, one side believes, without animal research there would not be the medical advancements present to this day. On the other hand, the use of animal research is unethical and the finding of new alternatives may also be even more beneficial than animal testing. Therefore, the medical field should either seek alternatives to animal research or the methods are refined to reduce the unethical treatment towards the animals as subjects.

Animal experiments date back long ago, the first use of animals in experiments date back to when ancient Greek physicians first used animals as models for anatomy and physiology. (Franco) Since then testing has been an ongoing even into the twenty first century. During that time, many treatments of diseases and procedures for humans and animals alike owe

Animal experiments have been subject to criticism ever since animals were used for research purposes. The criticism usually focuses on the ethical question whether man has the right to use animals for experimental research (Baumans, V, 2004). While the morality of it is debatable, the arguments lack as the pros outweigh the cons almost always. Despite the numerous benefits animal testing has had on humans, some people believe that animals should not be used for testing medical techniques and drugs.

Since many years, animals have always been one of the reasons for the survival of many human beings. They are used for experimental and medical research for finding new drugs and treatments and for the general advancement of health and medicine. There has been a controversy between people about the pros and cons to the practice of animal testing and whether it is helpful or it is just wasting the animal lives and there could be alternatives.

According to the National Institutes of Health, animal testing has been around since the days of philosopher Aristotle. According to ProCon.org, there are an estimated 26 million animals used for scientific and commercial testing in the U.S. alone. Animal testing has brought many good things to the medical world, such as the treatment various disease. Also, the animal is being tested by many cosmetics companies. On the other hand, organizations like PETA- People of Ethical Treatment of Animals have fought against the medical testing of animals. There are pros and cons that come with the usage of animals in the biomedical and cosmetic testing, and each side needs should be carefully examined before deciding one way or another.

Animal testing has been around since ancient times, in fact, according to Marte Thomassen et.al, “Aristotle who lived in 384-322 BC was one of the first to be recorded to use live animals in experiments and Doctor Galen 192-200 AD was known as the father of vivisection from his experiments on living

Less than 2% of human illnesses are ever seen in animals. Over 98% never affect animals. 92% of drugs passed by animal tests fail when first tried on humans because they’re useless, dangerous or both. Humans and animals are very similar to one another. Like humans they have similar systems in the body and at times it tends to react the same a human would. The animals that are used in research are mice, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, primates, dogs, cats, cows, fish, and birds. Almost all of these animals are used to try to make human life better and to progress in the world of medicine. The remaining animals are used as test dummies for all other products. Hundreds of thousands of animals are experimented on one another to figure out the

Today, animals are used in laboratory and tested makeups, medicines and other chemicals. In 2005, five hundred English scientists signed an appeal by the Research Defense Society supporting that animal testing plays a critical role in medical researches. Because they believe that animal testing is a worthy practice that has helped human medication progress more safely and fast. Beside some benefits from animal testing, animal testing should be stopped because it is unreliable, unmoral and there are alternatives for animal testing.