Arguments Against Animal Testing

Animals, whether cats in the house or lions on the savannah, reserve the right to life. The disregard for animal life has been equated to racism or sexism; acting on principles of disrespect for life and thoughts of discrimination (Animal Testing and Ethics). The continuation of animal testing and experimentation take an enormous psychological toll on humanity, leading to rationalization and flawed justification. To carry on this path would darken the mark this animal abuse is currently leaving on our humanity, one step towards yet another fault in human nature.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) statistics records the use of roughly 26 million animals per year for animal testing. These test reports in many cases are poor. Although animals were greatly used in the past the effects of treatments on animals and humans can’t be compared. The human body, reactions to toxins, and usefulness of treatments is different because we are different, “While animal’s maybe ‘whole models,’ states Dr. Aysha Akhtar, MD,” they are the wrong whole model because of interspecies differences.” Testing animals for human treatments should not continue to be practiced.

“Lots of people talk to animals…Not very many listen, though…That’s the problem”(Ben Hoffman). The controversy of animal testing is phenomenal; it always has been. I remember dissecting animals throughout my years of school in the "name of science". It was only until recently that I started questioning the government 's methods to teach us. We dissected a dog shark in my oceanography class last year. There had to been at least 80 dead sharks in about four different buckets; that was when it crossed the line. I understood a lamb eye or something, but breeding sharks in captivity just so they can be killed? Animal testing is wrong in every way to me.

There is much debate over whether animal testing should be allowed or not. Some people think that it is not essential to sacrifice animals for human benefits because they are being abused and tortured severely during experiments. Some others who stand against animal testing claim that humans eliminate many lives on earth in order to safe humans’ lives, so there is no justice because even animals have the right to live on earth, yet these people do not consider the truth that animals are being used in the food industry or in the laboratories. Thus, if someone asks how many animals are being used in the laboratory experiments around the world every year, who can give an accurate answer? It can be one, ten, or fifty million. It is difficult to find the exact figure on this question because people only read news through mass media such as having a new vaccine which can help human avoid uterus cancer or a new medicine help humans cure strokes, but they also need to know how many lives of the animals would have to take in order to get theses vaccines. Therefore, some organizes think that animal testing is one of the most disturbing experiments ever, and it should be banned. Despite many controversies with opposing opinions, a compromise can be made in order to reduce the use of animals in the laboratory experiments.

Have you ever had a sick relative? If so, have they used medication to help with said illness? Well that medication had to have come from somewhere. Animal testing has help conduct products such as vaccines for smallpox, hypothermia, and other major diseases. Now take into consideration what might have happened to that relative without the medication. As you can tell, animal testing has a positive impact on society, despite what might be claimed to be unjust. I will be explaining why this is so, and how some of the arguments are irrelevant.

The controversy behind animals as research subjects is mainly one of morals and the ethical treatment of said animals. Many people believe we should use them in this way, so we aren 't actually harming people in the pursuit for better things for humans. Though animal testing was a viable resource for many years, it has proven to be extremely controversial and unethical, therefor the use of animals as research subjects should be outlawed.

Animal testing is used frequently among the field of research to identify new cures of the modern science field to help cure disease, find cures, or simply identify variables in a theory. Yet, it is brought to question: is it morally wrong to test another living organism that is not a human being? Billions of animals lose their lives each year due to animal testing. Animals should be attributed to help enhance the fields of Psychological Research as long the experiments have a higher gain value than the level of cruelty that is imposed upon the animals that are being used for testing. Although the line between what is considered an effective research or pain caused for human financial benefit; there are two mindsets that are pointed out to continue animal research: the scientific view and the ethical view. But, most importantly to identify the purposes of a choice done by ethical egoism and contractarianism to benefit individuals financially and instead have utilitarianism content of moral norms to use on the animal research field.

The opinion of animals in the eyes of the law still compares them to objects: having them seen only as property and not living beings. A law towards better treatment has been passed, however, it has not been enforced. The implemented law is also full of loopholes that scientists have taken advantage over. Ever since that law, the Animal Welfare Act, was passed, even the definition of an animal has come into question. Additionally, a bias has been created in that there is more of a moral concern towards animals like dogs, cats, and primates rather than fish, mice, and rats, however, there are people advocating for the protection of animals not as popularly loved. Animal testing in the United States should be limited to having

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.

“The question is not, ‘Can they reason?’ nor, ‘Can they talk?’ but ‘Can they suffer?’” Jeremy Bentham said this, and this quote has become commonly used when speaking against animal testing. Why should those who are defenseless, have no say on their future? As technology advances, alternative methods of testing have come to the surface, but are ignored by those who believe that the results may not come as accurate. Many countries in the world, such as India and Israel, have passed laws against the use of animals to test cosmetic products. If they were able to use alternative testing methods then why shouldn’t the U.S.?

Chimps are put in this cage for years and has no food and water. A chimp is used every day for research. It was my first day as a scientist in a company that they offered me a job. I was going as in an undercover as an FBI. As soon as I walked in saw chimps being tested on. They were sending me undercover because peopled were filing reports about it and they were denning it. The senior professor told me to do my first job. He told me to give shots to the chimps and she what happened as I did that the chimps were afraid to came near me. As I walked down the hall they were all going to the back of the cage of how scared they were. The professor didn’t want to tell me what the shot did because he feared of my reaction. But I had already an Idea

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.

When it comes to the topic of Animal Testing, most of us will readily agree that alternative methods do exist that can replace the need for animals. Where this agreement usually ends is on animals are different from humans and therefore make poor test subjects. I agree that there are other methods but I also disagree that the animal are poor test subjects because a drug might work on a cell in a test tube but how will it work on a human. We don’t know until we test a living creature.

This is a review of multiple works regarding animal testing and its need today. This is 2014 and there are other alternatives for testing that doesn’t involve animals. The questions are, “What are the alternatives to testing that doesn’t use animals?” and “How accurate are the results for tests where animals were used as the subjects?” In general, the literature seems to indicate that animal testing is just not worthwhile and animals should not be used anymore.

infected with diseases that they would never normally contract, tiny mice grow tumors as large as their own bodies, kittens are purposely blinded, rats are made to suffer seizures, and primates’ skulls are cut open and electrodes are implanted in them. Experimenters force-feed chemicals to animals, conduct repeated surgeries on them, implant wires in their brains, crush their spines, and much more. (PETA, Cruelty to Animals in Laboratories)