Animal Testing Essay

As of 2015, 200 to 225 million animals are said to used in laboratory research for the biomedical industry annually worldwide. Typically defended by arguments of reliability and human health benefits, recently the question of ethics and values placed on animal testing have caused it to become a relevant and pressing topic that has been more widely discussed and debated. First off, the laboratory conditions that are instigated upon millions of animal models for the sake of medical research has been said to be unethical and cruel. Additionally, it has been debated that the results of animal experimentation are unreliable across a wide range of areas. Lastly, animal testing not only leads away from the direction of resources from more effective testing methods but also prolongs the duration of time humans may need to wait for an effective cure. Therefore, the potential benefits of animal experimentation are greatly outweighed by the risks and collective harm of humans and animals which is why resources should be directed towards more human-based testing procedures.

A long time of debates go back and forth on the rights of all animals with further argument or debates, do humans have the right to use animals on medical testing and lab use? There are several issues that can be placed in this argument this research will acknowledge four important topics in the rights of animal testing. Is it right to use animals for testing? Is it right to compare animal DNA to human DNA in these animal experiments? Is it right to use real animals instead of computers to generate results? Is it right to state animals are being protected and cared for while giving toxins to make them sick? Therefore, the question needs to be asked if animals should be used for scientific experiments in labs all across the globe.

The testing of animals in scientific and commercial research has been debated for many years. Some people view animals as companions or part of the family, but others think of them as a way to advance medicine by providing researchers with a means to develop better medical techniques, discovering vaccines, and helping to find a cure for a disease. Regardless of how a person may view animals, they are worthy of better protection by our government and us as a society. Although some animal testing has been successful, there are research alternatives that could eliminate the pain, suffering, and deaths that animals endure in scientific research. Therefore, animals should not be used in scientific research

Every day, animals such as rabbits, chimpanzees, and mice take part of medical experimentation. “Chimpanzees share 99% of their DNA with humans, and mice are 98% genetically similar to humans. The United States and Gabon are the only two countries that allow experimentation on chimpanzees.” (The Jane Goodall Institute of Canada). What people don’t understand is that these animals contribute to medical discoveries regarding human health. Animals should be used for medical experimentation because they contribute to many cures and treatments that have saved lives, their genetic material appears to be similar to those of humans, they are similar to human beings in many ways, animals are the only organisms other than humans who we can experiment on, and the animals themselves benefit from the result of animal testing.

“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).

Despite there being a large number of Americans favoring animal testing whether because they are misled as to its efficacy, are unaware of the true practices in this field, or simply have no regard for the life of these creatures in the slightest sense, animal testing has many negative aspects. Throughout the world and more specifically in the twenty-first century scientific community, experimental research done through the use of animal subjects has detrimental effects on animals. In addition, the processes tested on animals are not carried out with good moral standards, and the true value of scientific understanding gained from using these species is irrelevant. Animal testing should be prohibited.

Various studies have shown that animal experimentation often does not even help humans. Some even lead to harmful human reactions to the drugs being tested on animals. Yet we continue to use animal testing while other courses of action exist that do not involve harming an animal.

All through the world animals have, and are still being used in science for research, education, medical, and cosmetic purposes. Millions of animals, including rats, dogs, cats, and birds have been used in procedures in just this decade alone. Testing on animals can be painful, and deadly. Even though animal research is easier than human research, animal experimentation should be put to an end, because animals should not have to suffer while testing products for human purposes.

Animal testing is unnecessary because there are alternative testing methods that are more accurate and less time consuming. For example Microdosing, Artificial human skin, Microfluidic chips and computer models are all humane alternatives to inhumane animal testing. According to www.neavs.org "... skin corrosivity and irritation can be easily measured using three-dimensional human skin equivalent systems such as EpiDerm and SkinEthic." In conclusion, animal testing is unnecessary because it's time consuming, inaccurate and inhumane, yet scientists continue to use it when there are better alternatives to it.

How do you think all of the life saving medications were tested to see if they worked? The answer is animal testing. Animal testing is still necessary and should continue being used today. By using this method researchers are able to treat many diseases for not only humans but animals as well. To keep the process more humane, scientists follow strict guidelines for all the animals included in the Animal Welfare Act. Without  animal testing many diseases wouldn’t have been cured and people and animals would still be dying of them.

Dating back to 2,500 years ago, animals have been used for research worldwide (“Should Animals Be Used”). Many of the first accounts of animal testing have been found in Greek writings (“Should Animals Be Used”). Today, the ethicality of these experiments is continually debated. Every year in the United States, approximately twenty six million animals are used for research (“Should Animals Be Used”). These tests are used to expand the knowledge of medical treatments, such as a drug’s toxicity and safety (“Should Animals Be Used”). Due to the multiple immoral practices, the world should eliminate the use of animals for research because animal testing is inhumane, there are new alternative procedures that can be utilized, and the animal

Imagine being thrown into a tiny cage containing 5 other humans. The only time you're taken out is when a strange creature yanks you out, and pushes you into a different room containing some more humans and more of these strange creatures. You look around. The other humans are in small contraptions that force them to keep their head up. The creature that was escorting you shoves you into one of these contraptions and leaves. Now another creature arrives wearing a long white coat. This creature is carrying an eyedropper filled with a liquid that you have never seen before. It also has a strange looking

Animal experiments happen all over the world, but are they necessary? Animals are tested for medical research as well as for cosmetics. Some say that these experiments are not painful, so they are justified. Where others believe that all these experiments are inhumane and nothing can justify torturing and killing innocent animals. Although many believe that animal testing is the best way to improve human health by finding new treatments and tests for the safety of the products, the physical torture and painful deaths of animals are not worth the possible human benefits.

Animal testing has been going on for a long time now. It started with early Greek physician-scientists such as Aristotle (384-322) BC, and Erasistratus (304-258) BC. It quickly became a trend after that as people continued introduced it to different aspects of sciences, such as in medicine, surgical procedures, and a lot more. From that time animal testing became more and more popular, all around the world. In the past years, the use of animal testing for biomedical research has come under severe criticism by animal protection and animal rights groups. Laws have been passed in several countries to make the practice more humane yet still, animal testing is still a huge problem, that stirs constant debate, (rachel hajar).

Animal experimentation has been an easy and ethically acceptable way to research and test medicines and treatments for humans since the time of the ancient Greeks. Animals opened the door for the scientists and philosophers of old to learn facts about the human body that were previously explained with magic and superstition. Naturally, science has come a long way since the ancient Greeks. Today, we have a whole host of medical resources at our disposal, which begs the question: Do we need animals in medical research anymore? In addition, the practices with regard to animals at thousands of labs across the United States have been notoriously vague for years. It has only been in the last fifty years that people have begun to question the necessity of animal testing, and the degree of freedom that lab workers should be given with these animals. Due to the availability of other options, the unnecessary testing of already proven theories, and the unreliability of results, it is evident that the rights and humane treatment of animals has precedence over their use in medical research.