Scientific Animal Research
Animal have been used for centuries by scientist to advance biomedical research. Dating back to Galen, a Greek physician who was a giant in the history of medicine, actively used animals to advance the understanding of anatomy, physiology, pathology, and pharmacology. Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar), an Arab physician in twelfth century Moorish Spain, introduced animal testing as an experimental method for testing surgical procedures before applying them to human patients, procedures that are still utilized to this day.
Animal testing is a necessary evil used at medical facilities to advance scientific research. In recent years the use of animals has come under some intense pressure and criticism by animal protection and animal rights groups. The use of animals to advance research has undergone intense revisions allowing for a more effective way to utilize them in research facilities. Debate about whether the use of animals in medical research is humane or not has been debated since the 17th century (Ballentine). Since its beginnings, many countries have enacted strict laws that govern the use of animals within research facilities.
Many contesting the use of animals believe that the benefit of humans at the expense of animals is simply unjust and inhumane. They believe that in many ways animals differ from humans and therefore results from animal trials may be inconclusive to human studies. In the same sense, there must be testing on both humans and
In discussion of animal rights, one controversial issue has been whether or not animals should be use for medical testing. On the one hand, some scientists argue that animal testing has contributed for many cures and treatments. On the other hand, animal rights activist contends that alternative methods now exist that can replace the need for animals. Others even maintain that animal testing is an essential part in medical research. My own view is that animals should not be used in medical testing because is no longer necessary now there are methods that are safer and have better results than animals do.
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.
Research on living animals has been practiced since at least 500 BC. An estimated 26 million animals are used every year in the United States for scientific and commercial testing. The use of animals for scientific testing should not continue because animal testing can be cruel, some animals aren’t protected by law, and there are alternative testing methods.
Animal testing protests have had a long and turbulent history. This argument is one that has been debated since the early 1960’s. It all began when animal rights activists began to take interest in the ethics, or lack thereof, of testing animals for scientific and cosmetic studies. Some of these activists call for researchers to ensure that all of their animals are humanely cared for, while other activists called for the complete end of animal testing. These debates would continue on into the 21st century. Since the inception of this debate there have been factions of radical activists, such as the Animal Rights Miltia, that focus on direct action, performing actions ranging from breaking and entering to arson and car bombings. The issue
There are people out there who disagree that animal tests are harmful. They also think animal testing is the only effective way to get an exact result when it comes to benefiting humans. Those people think that animal testing should stay the same. Andrew Rowan declared, “Animal research has played a vital part in nearly every medical breakthrough over the last decade” (Rowan). Showing how medical groups have resorted to animal testing, instead of the normal cosmetic companies. Meaning more major companies are resorting to animal testing. Other people will argue that animals and humans are the exact same. An article from Indiana university stated, “Animals and humans are very similar; we have the same organ systems performing the same tasks in more or less the same way” (Rowan). Declaring how since they have the exact same organ system as us then we should put those animals through harmful tests.
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
Imagine being locked up in a cage for most of your life. Imagine, never being able to see the outside world at least once in your life. Imagine having your last few minutes alive, with a syringe in your eye. This is the life for animals that are in animal testing. The question is, does animal testing really make enough productive results to make up for all the suffering in between? My opinion on this argument is no. In the following paragraphs I will be proving how animal testing isn't successful, how it is torture and inhumane, and that there are alternatives.
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,
“According to Humane Society International, animals used in experiments are commonly subjected to force feeding, forced inhalation, food and water deprivation, prolonged periods of physical restraint, the infliction of burns and other wounds to study the healing process, the infliction of pain to study its effects and remedies, and ‘killing by carbon dioxide asphyxiation, neck-breaking, decapitation, or other means.‘ “ - Animal Testing
The fascination with using humans for scientific research has been around centuries. It is a common view that human experimentation is unethical and used as an unnecessary means to advance medical research. Historically, experiments involving humans were often done on prisoners, patients in mental facilities and minorities. Presently, there is a code of ethics researchers must follow to ensure the safety of participants and to preserve their human rights. I will be analyzing the historical background of human trials and comparing them to present day experiments formerly known as clinical trials. Lastly, I will explain the risks involved with these experiments and the implications surrounding them. In addition, I will
The great advances in medicine have been the results of many researches carried out by scientists who did many experiments to test the validity of their theories. Such experiments demanded using animals in testing which proved to be beneficial for ages in spite of the objections it raised among animal protectors. Yet the usage of animals in biomedical experiments has increased significantly over the past decade creating more and constant debate on whether the benefits of these experiments overweigh its drawbacks. Therefore the issue became one of the most controversial topics.
The scientific use of animals is one of the most controversial political policies in the world. It contains a long history dated all the way back to the vivisection performed by Descartes in the seventeenth century1. In today’s society, the evolution of animal testing has changed to a mass scale use, anaesthetizing then with ethers and chloroform. Despite the fact that a well conducted animal experiment could generate great benefits for humans, there is an increasing dilemma when reviewing moral disagreements surrounding this topic. Animal activists feel that there may be a lack of legitimate reasons to permit animal testing for human benefits. In contrast, many scientists believe that the practice of using animals plays a vital role in advancing health and medical researches. In this essay, I argue that the government should construct a policy allowing scientific animal experiments, only when the benefits of the research exceed the harm caused to animal.
Animal testing, although a controversial topic, affects a great deal of scientists and the work force in the agriculture field. This topic has proven difficult to communicate to one another about because there are individuals that believe animals should have certain rights and others believe that animals have no rights. Our group wanted to research this topic because we want to gain knowledge and become more understanding toward the people on both sides of the spectrum. Digging more into the research we found that cosmetics, medical use, and food are the most widely used methods for experimentation. With these research fields, people are finding ways to appeal to the ethics of the modern-day consumer.
Animal testing is known as animal experiments. This type of testing is driven to test chemicals, drugs, foods, etc. People say that animal testing is good for people because this is a chance to save more lives in the U.S.; then another part say that animal testing is bad because some of the tests that they do on them is not always effecting humans in the same way. To tell the truth, animal testing is good if wanting to save the population that we live in. All drugs may not affect humans and animals the same way, but testing is done on animals because their body corresponds like peoples. The good thing about animal testing is that it ensures human safety; all tests cannot ethically be done on humans, and treated animals give better test results.
Many people argue that animal testing is cruel. In some cases this is right. But it would be much more brutal to test initial drugs on human beings and then let them die because there was not enough information about that particular drug. Moreover, most of the countries have set standards that have to be followed in order to prevent cruelty while testing drugs on animals. Medical research involving animals has significantly changed and improved the health of the human race. Without animal testing, the remedy for polio would not manage to survive and diabetics would suffer or die from their disease. In spite of these benefits, some people believe that animals should be not be utilized for testing medical techniques and drugs. Animal testing sanctions scientists to test and engender incipient drugs. Animals such