Animals: Companions, Not Research Tools Essay

There is no argument that animals have played a critical role in medical research and paved the way for antidotes, cures and remedies for humans throughout history. Aristotle, who lived back in the fourth century B.C., is one of the first to be recorded as experimenting on a living animal. Back in the 1920s there was experimental testing on dogs which gave conclusive evidence to the functions the pancreas has on producing insulin. Before this, diabetes was untreatable, unmanageable and would easily result in death in humans (The Discovery of Insulin). Although testing on animals has been beneficial to us in many instances, there are several examples that prove testing on animals has hurt rather than helped the process. Many scientists argue that the physiological makeup of an animal differs strongly from that of a human resulting in different outcomes of drugs and other experiments. There has been a strong connection between smoking and lung cancer dating back to the 1960s, however all experiments done with animals failed to show

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 research has played a vital part in nearly every medical breakthrough over the last decade. Without testing cures on animals, things like modern anaesthetics, the tetanus vaccine, penicillin, insulin and more they would not be in existence today. When you look at all the lives that has saved, I think it’s worth it.

Animal Research is another name for animal testing, where an estimated twenty-six (26) million animals are being tested on for medical, commercial, and biomedical purposes. Many people stand behind the use of animals, as it furthers scientific research. “The California Biomedical Research Association states that nearly every medical breakthrough in the last 100 years has resulted directly from research using animals” (). They increase functionality as certain animals, such as chimpanzees who share 99% of their DNA with humans, are genetically similar to humans (); making it “acceptable” to test on animals, as researching on humans is unethical. Research on animals has been around for at least 500 BC, but does all of this reasoning justify animal testing?

The use of animals for scientific experimentation has greatly contributed to various life-saving treatments and cures for diseases and minor illnesses that would cause irreversible side effects and even death. Take the poliovirus for example. In the early to mid twentieth century this virus was crippling and killing countless people every year. Thanks to animal research, this virus has practically been eradicated from the world. Another previously mentioned disease that has been able to be treated with ease now do to animal research is diabetes. “Over 1 million new cases of diabetes are diagnosed each year, and based on death certificate data, diabetes contributed to nearly 225,000 deaths in 2002 alone” (AALAS Foundation, online). As the AALAS states, dogs played a pivotal role in the advancements of insulin treatment, because insulin helps regulate blood sugar levels. “Animal research not only produced new vaccines for the treatment of infectious disease, it also led to the development of antibacterial and antibiotic drugs” (Botting and Morrison, p. 84). With these facts, it is clear the use of animal research plays a crucial role for human life. But what about the animals’ lives? They too have benefited from the advancements of animal research. According to the Southwest Association for Education in Biomedical

The use of animal models for biomedical research has been a widely debated subject for decades. On one side of the argument, animal models are critical components for the development and treatment of human medicine. Without the use of common lab animals, research progress would be slower, and thus more lives would be lost due to the lack of research as it pertains to certain diseases. On the other side of the argument, some believe that it is completely unnecessary for animals to be used in human research, with many people believing that it is a form of animal cruelty and should be treated as such.

Animals have been used from the beginning of time the ancient civilisations used animal testing to find answers to the unknown for example why do animals exist romans & greeks simply dissected animals to have knowledge. Now days animals are used to understand basic human biology, so called “models” for studying human biology and disease. Improvements in human health, vaccines and medicines. Another type of animal use is for cosmetics. Even though people believe that biomedical research is a way to improve human health by testing on animals for cures and vaccines I believe that animals should not be used for biomedical research because biomedical research leads to animal suffering ,number of animal death and most studies are unthinkable.

Companion animals have not always been considered beneficial to the human existence. In pasted centuries companion animals were consider objects with little value. For example, Martha C. Armstrong stated that, “pound dogs stood little chance of escaping their destiny: death by starvation, injury, gassing, or drowning.” This illustrated how animals that were captured did not have any rights and could be disposed of in any way. These animal companions were considered replaceable unless they were used as livestock and only if they would create a source of income for the animal guardian. The documentary illustrated how instead of euthanizing the animals the animal shelter began incorporating other means of helping the animal companion become more adoptable. It illustrated how placing the

Many advocates say animals should be used in medical research since the results from their experiments give scientists an idea of what to expect when the same product is used on humans. Jennifer Hurley agrees when she writes, “Because of the medical progress made possible by animal research, we live in a world in which disease no longer threatens us at every moment, and most illnesses are completely curable” (Haugen 156). Animal experimentation not only helps further the knowledge with humans but also with other animals. Experiments on animals have helped the development and testing of animal vaccines, the detection and prevention of infectious diseases in other species, and the development of artificial joints and cancer therapies for animals (Haugen 142-143). Additionally research with animals has led to human vaccines that treat and cure many diseases that humans are faced with today. These vaccines include treatments for polio, measles, whooping cough, tetanus, rabies, and influenza (Lawrence 32). Animal research in the past has led to

By studying animals we learn more about illnesses that afflict human beings and other animals. Animals are used to develop, test, and make new medical products. We should use a variety of animals for research because we can get new cures, learn about new human and animal anatomy, learn new information, and what affects the animals’ bodies as well as ours, although most of experimenting and testing does harm to the animals unfortunately.

Animals should be used for research because it helps find cures. Animals are closely linked to humans in DNA. It is the best way not to test on human nor cause any problems that don't need to be caused if the scientist uses animals for these test projects it will be safer for humans. Animal research has played a vital part in every breakthrough in medicine and it has lasted over a decade It's the best the human race can do for testing. They have been used for vaccines and other cure that have changed the human race (Animal science).

Without animal research, medicine as we know it today wouldn’t exist. Animal research has enabled us to find treatments for cancer, antibiotics for infections, vaccines to prevent some of the most deadly and debilitating viruses and surgery for injuries, illnesses and deformities. According to the US based, Foundation for Biomedical Research: “Animal research has played a vital role in virtually every major medical advance of the last century - for both human and veterinary health. From antibiotics to blood transfusions, from dialysis to organ transplantation, from vaccinations to chemotherapy, bypass surgery and joint replacement, practically every present-day protocol for the prevention, treatment, cure and control of disease, pain and suffering is based on knowledge attained through research with lab animals.” Animal research hasn’t benefited humans alone. Animals also have improved healthcare and a longer lifespan. Farm animals, household pets, wild species and endangered species are all benefiting from the research conducted through animals. There are vaccines for rabies, distemper, tetanus, parvo virus and numerous other illnesses in cats, dogs and countless other domesticated animals. Cats now have a treatment for Feline Leukemia. It’s obvious that animal research benefits all living species and that we are all able to live longer, healthier, happier lives because of it. In fact, seven out of the ten

For centuries, the ethics of animal experimentation in the biomedical field have been questioned. The primary concern is whether the animals used in research outweigh the pain the animals endure. Animal rights activists will argue that there are new alternatives, which are more accurate than animal testing. The success of animal trials has continued the use by scientists within the medical field. Additionally, testing on animals eliminate harm to humans. The first Animal Cruelty Act was created in 1835 to regulate the use of animals for scientific purposes (Franco, 2013). According to Franco (2013, p. 256). 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 and on the other hand, the use of animal research is unethical. Finding new alternatives may also be even more beneficial than animal testing. The medical field should seek alternatives to animal research or the methods are refined to reduce unethical.

Animals should be used for research and Experimentation because if the animals get sick or show any signs of acting abnormal then the scientists know it isn’t safe for humans to use. Animal research has played a big role in nearly every medical breakthrough over the last decade. Animals have the same organ system that perform the same task, which helps determine if what is being tested is safe for humans to use. Most of the medicines animals use the same medicine as humans like antibiotics, pain killers, and many more this helps to see if the medicine cures the animals without any harmful consequences then it would be safe and useful for humans to use.

The use of animals for research developments have been a part of scientific history from the days of Aristotle and Erasistratus who experimented with animals. (Scutti, 2013) These earlier researchers conducted experiments to better understand the anatomy of living things and was not until the twelfth century when an Arab physician reinvented the idea of animal research when suggesting using animals as a way to test surgical procedures before using on humans. (Scutti, 2013) Animals have had a long running relationship with mankind either in the wild, on pastures, or medical research labs. If this relationship has been used for centuries now then why does there seem to be a debate on the ‘ethics’ of this practice. Within the past years, researchers have received an extreme amount of pressure from animal protection and rights groups about the ethics behind this type of experimentation. Countries’ legislation has become a part of the fight for animal rights and passed law to make experimentation less aggressive. (Scutti, 2013) With the advancements in medicine from animal testing, we begin to question does an animal’s life outweigh that of a human’s and is one lab animal worth more than saving the life of thousands.