The Screams Behind the Creams:
An Analysis of Vivisection in the Medical Industry
19.5 million animals are killed every year due to different experiments being tested on the animals. Vivisection is the use of live animals during operation for scientific research. Such animals may include: dogs, cats, primates, guinea pigs, and hamsters. One of the most common forms of vivisection is the experimentation for medical purposes such as making new medicines. The use of animals in the medical industry should be prohibited, in order for the industries to stop abusing the animals and causing them to suffer.
When scientists experiment on animals many precautionary measures are disregarded and therefore animals experience an excessive amount of
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“In addition to the torment of the actual experiments, animals in laboratories are deprived of everything that is natural and important to them-they are confined to barren cages, socially isolated, and psychologically traumatized” (Animal Experiments: Overview). The animals have their entire natural habitat taken away from them while being tested. Without their normal surroundings, it is hard for them to behave and live like their species. If a person were to have all of their possessions taken away, they would be inferior and victimized. The animals feel this way. Scientists take the animals for granted and forget that the animals have feelings too. The habitats that the facilities provide for the animals could be viewed as poorly as the quality of treatment for animals The environments of the facilities used to house the animals do not correspond with the environments that the animals would live in, in the wild. One of the criteria a vivisection laboratory must follow is to “provide ethologically appropriate facilities (i.e., as would occur in their natural environment) for those chimpanzees…” (NIH to Reduce Significantly the Use of Chimpanzees in Research). The facilities that the chimpanzees are in must match the environment they would be in if they were in the wild. This criteria helps to eliminate the abuse of the animals, however not all facilities are required to have the animals in their own habitat-like
Animal vivisection is the study, experimentation and research of any animal. Animal rights activists are opposed to using animals for medical research and experimentation because humans do not have the right to use animals. With very few exceptions, we do not experiment on humans without their consent. Animals can’t give informed consent and the vast majority of experiments using animals are so invasive and damaging, that we would never even consider allowing humans to being subject to such experiments. Every year, animals are dissected, infected, injected, gassed, burned and blinded in hidden laboratories all over the world, most of the time without anesthetic or pain killers. If they aren’t killed by the testing, the animals are often not kindly but brutally killed. The dead animals are frequently left stacked in wheelbarrows in front of the animal cages.
To begin, the experimental use of animals in medical studies is unethical. These creatures are confined in isolated cages where they are deprived of necessary environmental elements. It is not uncommon that they undergo ghastly methods of experimentation; including the inhalation of toxic fumes, the burning of their skin, and the crushing of their spinal cords ("People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals"). This information sheds light on the grim realities of animal experimentation. These creatures are living, breathing beings that do not deserve to be treated as they are nothing more than lab objects. Not only are they ripped from their natural habitats, but are forced to endure an irreversible psychological trauma . To put it in perspective, imagine a six-month-old child being taken from their parents and sent to a lab to undergo scientific experiments that could ultimately result in
Using animals for medical experimentation and education is a controversial subject that often leads to a heated debate. The issues are complex, but the suffering and waste involved in animal experimentation are painfully obvious. Vivisection, the act of cutting into a live animal, has led the nation down countless scientific dead ends, while detracting funds and attention from more applicable scientific research. The practice of animal experimentation at NYU continues, not because it has been proven to be an accurate and reliable means of research (which it has not) but rather, because of tradition and promotion from those with strong vested interests (i.e. Lynne Kiorpes). These values have
“Would we imprison our children in cages too small for them to move? Would we violate our sisters and steal their babies? Would we deliberately infect our friends with diseases and leave them untreated? Of course not so why would we do the same to animals? We must abandon the archaic and incorrect boundary of “human,” which we use to justify the ongoing massacre of billions of beings (PETA)”. According to the New England Anti-Vivisection Society, “There is an estimate of 100 million animals that are burned, crippled, poisoned, and abused in laboratory testing every year. “Most animals in laboratories never will experience fresh air or sunshine, only bars and concrete sound more like a prison well that’s just the beginning of what animal’s experience. There are few facilities that provide some outside caging, and they typically rotate the animals, giving them limited and infrequent amounts of time outdoors. Standard lab conditions, such as small, crowded cages, lack of enrichment, loud noises, and bright lights are all known to create stress in animals. When it comes to animals and their rights, there is a fine line between our needs and taking advantage of these animals just because we consider them to be inferior (NEAVS).”
Every year, in Europe and in North America tens of millions of animals are used for scientific research, for the testing of drugs and consumer goods as well as for educational purposes including dissection, and surgery practice. The Draize test and the LD50 (lethal dose 50 percent) in particular have been criticized for their animal cruelty and have gained increasing resistance on the part of the animal liberationists and the general public. The Draize test, which involves testing the acute acidity of cosmetics and household products on rabbits’ eyes, and the LD50, in which the toxicity of a substance by determining the dose required to kill fifty percent of the test group within fourteen days, however, are merely two example of the cruelty experienced by animals in biomedical research laboratories.
Animals suffer just as people do. In 2009 animal experimentation was the cause of over 1.13 million animals, excluding small rodents, suffering in U.S. Laboratories (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service). Animal experimentation is unethical, unnecessary and expensive; alternative methods of testing should be utilized.
The survey was sent to twenty-three students asking whether they supported or did not support the discontinue of using animals in labs for experimentation. Twenty-two percent of students stated that they did not support ending animal experimentation in labs, while the other seventy-eight percent did support it. Those who still support animal experimentation must not know what really goes on in labs and how cruel the tests may be. Animals feel pain just as humans feel pain and they might even feel more pain than we do because of how smaller the animal is. Some even have similar cognitive conditions as humans, such as depression or stress as stated, “Some chimpanzees previously used in biomedical research exhibited symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorders similar to those observed in human (“Animal Experimentation” no p. #).”
These animals spend most, if not all, of their lives trapped in cages. Many facilities don’t give the animals the opportunity to experience sunlight. The only light they are ever exposed to is the light on a fluorescent bulb. The stressful environment of a lab has many negative effects on the animals. According to Dr. Chaitanya, in an article titled “Animal Testing: Inhumane AND Inaccurate”, “This stress leads many animals to self-harm and displaying stereotypical behaviors, including spinning endlessly in their cages or constantly pacing” (Chaitanya). Not only are the animals forced to undergo different tests and treatments, they are also confine in cages and not allowed to experience any natural elements. Some animals live their entire lives being tortured through experiments, and they are not even given the chance to experience sunlight. The conditions in which the animals are forced to live can cause them harm. According to the Animal Legal Defense Fund, in an article titled, “Wining the Case Against Animal Cruelty”, “In 2012, monkeys were boiled alive when sent through scalding-hot mechanical cage washers, while others overheated to death in poor laboratory conditions” (Animal Legal Defense Fund). These monkey’s not only suffered through experiments, they also had to suffer through deplorable living conditions. People who are in
People who oppose Vivisection argue that humans are only benefiting ourselves through harming animals, and claim animals are nothing like people and believe that there for testing on them is not helping us at all. I want you to learn that these tests are not just for humans but animals too. Animal testing has led to advancements in animals as well. Most procedures conducted on humans today are also used on animals. We can now not only extend the life of humans but also
Vivisection, even though it’s not commonly known, is the study of experimentations and research on animals.
Over the past few decades, animals have been enduring unimaginable pain and fear due to being used to test the everyday products we use. And as unfortunate as it sounds, animals simply do not have the choice in these cruel experiments scientist put them through. According to data collected by F. Barbara Orlans for her book, In the Name of Science: Issues in Responsible Animal Experimentation, “sixty percent of all animals used in testing are used in biomedical research and product-safety testing” (Orlans There will always be different points of views on this troubling topic, some may be against it because they see animals as their companions or some may support it because they only see animals as objects to move forward with science and experimental
Animal rights argue that researches on animal is an unethical or a cruel way of obtaining cures for humans. During examination more than 10 billion animals die due to the wrong administration of injections. Many animals are subjected to forced inhalation, feeding, dehydration and burns. During assessment animals are put through severe sufferings such as electric shocks, brain damage, blinding, withholding of food and water, immobilization of entire body and other painful procedures. Many of the animals die before or sometimes after the experiment. Some of the lab experiments which cause extreme discomfort and sufferings are anesthetization, intubations and euthanasia, when performed improperly. Unfortunately, the lack of experience and
When the scientist needed the animal for testing, the scientist forced them out of the animal's cage by the neck and was put into restraints. The animals were clearly in distress and had very little space to move. The scientist took the animals from the wild, where they have a massive amount of space to move around in. Here, the poor animals are trapped. Being isolated from any companionship is very stressing for the animals, thus the animal tends to develop depression, anxiety, and even starts to self mutilate itself. Furthermore, the animals are forcefully fed and forced to inhale substances, as well as being deprived of food and water. For what reason? Not only for science but cosmetic use as well. According to a survey from human society, many harmful ingredients used in shampoos or deodorant are tested on animals. For example, scientist use rabbits and put the chemical in the eye of it, than the scientist wait 21 days to have the reaction recorded down. By then the animal has gone through a
Over one hundred million animals – including mice, rats, monkeys, fish, birds, and more — are injured and killed in U.S. research laboratories annually due to immoral experimenting and inefficient chemical testing. Prior to their deaths, most animals would be forced to breathe in toxic gases, while others are restrained in certain restraint devices for hours. In some cases, holes are penetrated into their skulls, whereas others have their skin scorched off or spinal cords crushed to pieces. Not only are these vulnerable subjects harmed constantly, but also treated carelessly by depriving them of everything that is vital to their well-being. For instance, they are isolated in cages and disturbed psychologically. These living, thinking, and feeling beings are treated like ordinary, meaningless laboratory equipment.
In addition to the fact that animal experimentation is ineffective, unreliable, and costly, testing on animals also violates animal rights. Do we think that just because we are superior to animals that we have the right to subject these innocent creatures to cruel and painful experiments? The superiority humans feel over animals may be the reason why humans feel less troubled by inflicting pain on animals. Or perhaps humans justify this cruel act by saying that animals would not be used in experiments if their use was not absolutely necessary. The pain and misery these animals are put through is absolutely unjustified, especially since the experiments they are subject to are proven to be unnecessary and even pointless. As Ingrid Newkirk states, animals in the laboratories are "under constant stress from fear, the loss of control over their lives, and the denial of all