Arguments Against Animal Testing

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.

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.

Mohandas K. Gandhi once said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”. What, then, does it say about the people of the United States, for allowing the deaths of millions of innocent animals for the benefit of research, that in most cases is not even useful? 100 million animals are killed each year due to animal testing or experimentation (PETA,1). In the past, it was acceptable to use animal testing for scientific research, but now that there are other viable alternatives to the testing of innocent animals, such as in-vitro, stem cell testing, non-incasing imaging techniques, and micro-dosing. Animal testing should only be used in cases where said drug or treatment will treat life-threatening diseases. Animal testing in this day and age is both unnecessary and cruel, as there are multiple alternatives and the most of the time is not useful in human research.

95% of drugs fail in human trials despite promising results in animal tests. This is because of the different genes between a human and an animal. The failure of the drugs can also be caused due to the fact that out of 93 dangerous drug side effects, only 19% could have been predicated by animal tests. Another piece of evidence that has been brought to the attention of many is that the testing of animals is a waste. Only 6% of 4,300 international companies involved in drug development have registered a new drug with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration since 1950. Even those drugs that are approved are not universally effective due to individual reactions, the top ten highest-grossing drugs in the U.S. only help between 1 in 4 and 1 in 25 people who take them. The last reason why animal testing should be reconsidered is common sense but overlooked. Animals are much more different from humans than imagined. Animals are incapable of being diagnosed of the same diseases that humans are. Their bodies do not allow them to have illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease, major types of heart disease, many types of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, HIV or schizophrenia. A simple drug like aspirin is toxic to many animals, including cats, mice and rats and would not be on our pharmacy shelves if it had been tested according to current animal testing

For instance, the polio vaccine, tested on animals, reduced the global occurrence of the disease from 350,000 cases 1998 to 223 cases in 2012. Consequently, the testing of the polio vaccine on animals saved over 300,000 lives. However, animals are being harmed in this process, due to the drugs that are included in the vaccine. Additionally, 92% of the drugs that are tested on animal testing fail once they reach human trial, because it either doesn’t work, or they are potentially dangerous. This demonstrates that, animal testing is not needed if the drugs work on the animals, but fail once they reach human trials. In conclusion, animal testing is helpful to human beings, but it is hurtful and dangerous to the animals.

Animal testing has been going on for years; however, few question the ethics of testing medicines that would cure human diseases on animals. Various animals being tested in labs and cruelly force them to be a host of harmful diseases negatively affect their health. Animal testing is cruel and unusual punishment and should discontinue. Animal experimentation is a subject that many know of but don’t know much about. Although it is a big topic, people still don’t pay much attention to it because of their lack of information. Experimenting is a cruel process that causes many innocent animals to suffer. Many cases of violations towards experimenting have been found as well. Testing on animals is unnecessary when laying down the

First and foremost, testing on animals has led to advancements in numerous areas of medical treatment that has saved thousands of people since the testings began. How? Well, animals have a very similar body structure to humans, which makes them prime examples for testing medications. Chimpanzees have 99% of the same DNA as humans do, and even mice are 98% genetically similar to the human race. Animals and humans both share the same complex, orderly body systems, and for this reason, they are readily used to study animal tissues and the way they react to certain procedures. The tissues can then be compared to the way human tissues would react without having to actually use these human tissues. ”It is a legal requirement to carry out animal testing to ensure they are safe and effective," said Dr. Paul Drayson when talking about the advantages of animal testing and making sure that medical procedures and medications are safe for humans.

There is no denying that animal testing has led to many medical discoveries which have saved many lives. The first pancreases taken from dogs directly led to the discovery of insulin, which has saved many diabetics’ lives. This discovery is the back-bone to allowing animal testing to continue because it is proof that animal testing can lead to lives being saved. Animal testing is a controversy that has lasted for over 30 years, and it will continue to be the center of many debates until an equivalent form of testing is discovered that no longer puts animals in the line of fire. But until that day arrives, the question still stands. Should animals be used as test subjects? Though there are two answers to this question, each making logical points, I say that animals should no longer be used.

Though many people argue that animal testing should be stopped to find alternative methods, others still believe animal testing should continue to further medical research.Countries have found cures, vaccines, and treatments that have saved many lives thanks to animal testing, but there is still a cost to it. The suffering, pain, and confusion animals go through for our benefit can be stopped. Though it may be a good way to test, in many ways it still has its flaws, the community could change these flaws by finding alternative methods to

Many Americans are dreaming of the “perfect” long lasting and healthy life and some of that may be possible to achieve with animal testing. Animal testing is saving lives through breakthrough advancements in medicine. Plus, this is happening without causing extreme amounts of animal fatalities.If there was another way to test for medicine scientists would use it, but unfortunately, animal testing is the one and only

Finally, the products test on animals is completely pointless because feasible alternatives are available. Advances in technology have conveyed many other applicable alternatives to research on animals. Some of the alternatives are the use of new imaging technologies, using human cell and tissue cultures, post-mortem studies, laboratory results analysis and endoscopic analysis. Moreover, molecular epidemiology has also shown substantial potential in identifying the causes of human diseases. Currently, medical students are also taught using new and emerging technologies which are more effective and may not engage using animals for the research. Such technologies include clinical experience, interactive computer programs, human-patient simulators, studying case reports, didactic methods, and safe human-based teaching methods. The above-mentioned methods have proven to be more effective as the student is not distracted with the possibility of potentially maiming or killing an innocent animal. Therefore, when successful means of product testing are available without the use of animals, so testing potentially deadly substances on animals is

Despite all the benefits that animal research has yielded, many people believe that animals should not be used for testing medications to determine toxicity of medication, or to establish safety of the medications. They state that the animals are kept in captivity then they are killed after the experiment. The opponents argue that animal research is cruel and inhumane, which is true in some cases since the animals finally end up dead. They also argue that the testing yields irrelevant results since animals are so different from humans. The

Animal testing has saved lives. Without animal testing we would not know if cures and medicines worked on humans and animals at the correct doses. The authors appeal to ethos in a very nonchalant way, by telling about the organizations that use the animals in the testing. Also the author tells that “Without animal research, millions of dogs, cats, birds, and farm animals would be dead from more than 200 diseases,”(Consunji) this includes diseases such as distemper, rabies, and parvo. Today these diseases are preventable by giving the animals vaccines and other treatments developed in the testing. The CVMA supports the use of the animals when the research is conducted in a “responsible, humane manner for medical and scientific research where there are no non-animal alternatives”(Consunji).

Animal testing is when researchers use animals to test out the effects of drugs and diseases. Sadly, this is something that ordinary people may not be aware of the awful things innocent animals endure behind closed doors in laboratories for scientist or researchers own personal gain. Animal testing has been practiced for centuries. It wasn’t until modern day century that others have realized how inhumane animal testing is and have protested against this act so much that it has caused the U.S. government to pass laws that prohibit and protect many animals from lab testing cruelty. Even when a law is made to protect them laboratory researchers still use mice as a benefit for their studies. A writer from an article that opposes animal testing has said that animals get anxiety when a laboratory researcher enters the room. It is also shown that they can develop other mental disorders as a result of the testing.

Tests that pass animals can have major effects on human’s population. In the UK 70,000 people die or are severely disabled by medical drugs that have passed animal tests(33 Reasons Why). This can show how unreliable it is and why it would not be good to use medicine that is not tested on humans. In America 106,000 people die from medical drugs (33 Reasons Why). This shows that more people in America trust this type of medication. Not only this but treatment tortures and kills animals, they can not only ruin human population but animal’s too.