Medical Testing On Animal Testing

Imagine being poked and prodded with a needle, all to test for a new drug against

Throughout the years the use of animals in medical research has been a hot debate around the world. Although animal testing may be cruel and inhumane, thousands of humans are saved thanks to the research that animals supply researchers with. Animals testing have taken over our knowledge of medicine and treatments to a whole different level. Animal testing also does this in a cheap and effective way. Without animals testing out knowledge wouldn’t be up to date, in other words animals’ testing is good.

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.

Scientists have been using animals to test medical treatments that could be used on humans, if it does well with the animal. Testing on an animal could help find a new discovery, but it could also put the animal in danger. Over 100 million animals are burned, crippled, poisoned, and abused in US labs every year. A 2013 study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) found that nearly 150 clinical trials of treatments to reduce inflammation in critically ill patients have been undertaken, and all of them failed, despite being successful in animal tests. Animals should not be used to test medical procedures and treatments that would be later on used for humans.

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.

It is human nature to survive at any cost, even if it is at the expense of animals we may typically see in our everyday lives. The use of animals in pharmacological education and research is nothing new and dates way back to the ancient times. The amount of data that has been acquired from these animal testings has allowed for modern medicine to improve and opened new gateways for further development of newer medication, but at what cost?

Animals do not suffer from the same diseases that us humans have, for example curing heart failure induced by cutting a dogs aorta will not help to cure heart failure caused by a build-up of cholesterol in human arteries. We waste animal lives everyday and for what? The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has noted that 92 percent of all drugs that are shown to be safe and effective in animal tests fail in human trials because they don’t work or are dangerous. And of the small percentage of drugs approved for human use, half end up being relabeled because of side effects that were not identified in tests on animals. This makes it extremely dangerous to humans, because animal testing is not dependable, it can cause serious side effects to humans that weren’t an issue to the animals during testing.

Just in the United States, “there are about 26 million different species, from dogs to birds, being used every year for medical and science related testing” (“Animals in Science / Research”). Throughout the process of testing, “monkeys are addicted to drugs, cats are deafened and have holes drilled into their skulls, sheep and pigs have their skin burned off, and rats have their spinal cords crushed” (“Animals in Medical Experiments”). As a result, animals face cruel conditions and have no way of fighting back. Although medical testings on animals may cure the deadliest diseases such as cancer and tuberculosis, the abuse and mistreatment these animals face while testing medicines should be deemed inhumane, and such practices should be banned in the United States.

Why should animals not have the same rights that humans do? Maybe because they cannot talk, read books, or drive cars, but neither can some humans for that matter. So why is it that when an experiment, which was conducted to help treat type 2 diabetes, killed 203 people, it was halted immediately, although millions of animals die each year due to scientific experimentation? The answer is that many believe that animals are worthless or are not worth as much as human beings are, so they are therefore dispensable. The problem with that is animals are living things just like humans. Therefore, like human beings, they understand fear and experience pain. They also feel excitement and happiness. So why should they be denied the same basic rights

The debate about animal testing gains more and more attention every day. It is questioned whether it is ethical to test on living animals or not. Ethical or not, animals are the closest living organisms that have very similar structures to the human body. Animal testing has had a major impact on the improvements of finding drugs and treatments for our health and medicine. Both drugs and cosmetics are by law ought to be tested before being distributed out to the market. This law was established in 1938 when the U.S law passed the Food, Drug and cosmetic act. While searching to discover if my everyday facial cream is tested on animals I found that effectively it is. Knowing that the Neutrogena the #1 dermatologist recommended acne wash is being tested effectively gives the consumer relief of

Testing on animals for pharmaceutical products is happening all over the world with not much talk about it. “For drugs and biologics, the focus of animal testing is on the drug’s nature, chemistry, and effects (pharmacology) and on its potential damage to the body (toxicology)” (FDA, “ Why Are Animals . . .”). A lot of people read on the label time and time again “Product Tested on Animals” not knowing just how cruel some of these testing methods actually are. “Vaccine testing in particular consumes an estimated 2.5 million animals every year because vaccines are often produced by weakening, inactivating, or detoxifying a virulent microorganism or toxin. Each batch of the finished product is then tested on animals, causing them pain, suffering,

According to the Food and Drug Administration, 92% of drugs passed animal tests, but failed to work on humans. The humans who had used the animal certified drugs used on them, may also have an increased chance of getting life-threatening diseases or worse, death. For example, a study done by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showed that, “ Drugs intended to reduce inflammation in critically ill patients, previously tested in mice, failed in nearly 150 human critical trials” (livescience). This drug didn’t help the patients but probably even worsened their conditions. There are many other studies that show that animal experimentation is ineffective and there are places where the alternatives to it are

- Hajar, Rachel. "Animal Testing and Medicine." Heart Views: The Official Journal of the Gulf Heart Association 12.1 (2011): 42. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.

Stated by Mahatma Gandhi, “The greatness of the nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”. Medical research on animals is an effective way for scientist to test different medical discoveries and experiment before using them on humans to check their result. This technique has been used for centuries dating back to people such and Aristotle and Erasistratus. What exactly is medical research on animals? When we take a deeper look into the experiment that are preformed we can conclude that animals are a living model of humans in these laboratories. It is a necessity to harm and test animals with new drugs in order to market them in the medical industry to aid human illnesses. In order to better comprehend and regulate drugs one must understand what medical research on animals is described as and its benefits to pharmaceutical companies for humans. Exposure to the trials and tribulations that animal testing reveals how important it is for scientists to understand the negative effects they contribute to an animal’s welfare and life. In contrary animal testing has been used to save many human lives from consuming or using a drug that could have caused them life threatening illnesses.

So why would you let other animals suffer for honestly no purpose. Yes. We do test on animals to see if humans could get some sort of reaction to the product but 92% of the new drugs that passed animal testing, later failed on human trials.