Animal Testing Essay

It is no secret that millions of animals a year are used for medical experimentation. One study “found the number of animals tested rose from 1,566,994 in 1997 to 2,705,772 in 2012” (Casey). It is my belief that researchers use virtue theory to defend their experimentations. While animal activists approach experimentation through the ethics of care. I am against animal experimentation, but I will also provide insight into why people believe it is ethically just.

Imagine a life locked away in a cage with no form of control on your existence. It’s cold, dark, and you are scared. You don’t have a choice of what you eat, where you live, or how you are treated. You are unsure if it is day or night or what will happen to you next. You are locked away in a prison cell and you committed no crime. This is the life of a laboratory animal. Animal testing is the use of animals for scientific research purposes and experiments. It can be used for the findings of cures and medicines to testing new drugs, to understanding the behavioral psychology of the animals themselves. “Around fifty to one hundred million vertebrate animals, ranging from fish to primates, are used in experiments each year” (Lloyd). There are

Animal testing is not only beneficial to human but also animals, at least to those who are not used in the experiments, such as pets and endangered species. Along with researching for new treatments and medicines for

Transition: Although testing on animals is beneficial to us humans, some animals being tested on, go through a large amount of agony and not many realize that.

From when you are a baby to when you are an adult animal testing is used in your everyday products. From the Pampers you put on as a baby and the Johnson and Johnson you are washed with. To when you are older the Febreeze, Sunsilk, and Gillette you use.( Companies That do Test on Animals) Animal testing surrounds you in every act of life. “The guess is around 100 million animals are used worldwide in animal testing.” (Animal Rights) Animal testing is rooted from natural curiosity. How the insides of a living organism operate and look is an interesting idea. Because of the fact that dissection of humans was illegal by the Roman Church, animals were the second best option for knowledge of living organisms. (Animal Testing) The debate

“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.

Animals endure so much pain and suffering when being tested on. In some cases, animal testing can be deadly or lead to serious side effects that will forever stick with the animal that was tested on. Animals hardly ever, to never benefit from testing. In research and testing, animals are subjected to experiments that can include everything from testing new drugs to infecting with diseases, poisoning for toxicity testing, burning skin, causing brain damage, implanting electrodes into the brain, maiming, blinding, and other painful and invasive procedures (NEAVS). It can include protocols that cause severe suffering. Also, can’t forget about the restricted living conditions where animals are forced to live in an unhealthy habitat out of their own element during the testing period. Animals in labs suffer not only pain from protocols, but also severe stress from day-to-day laboratory life. They spend their lives in barren cages, unable to make choices or express natural behaviors. Most never experience fresh air or sunshine, only bars and concrete. Although most think that the Animal Welfare Act protects animals from abuse, it is a common misconception that the AWA protects animals against abuse and harm in the laboratory or in other areas of commerce. This is not true. According to the National Anti-Vivisection Society the AWA regulates the use of animals in research and outlines standards for their care, it does not protect

Have you ever been watching your favorite television show, and all of the sudden a failed drug commercial comes on? An example of this could be Vioxx. How would you like to know that this was tested on animals? If you are unaware Vioxx caused over 100,000 people to suffer severe heart attacks. Yet Vioxx was extremely successful in the animal test trials. Doesn’t that show you how different us animals and humans are, and how pointless this dangerous routine is? Now how do you feel to know that animals are also being killed everyday because of animal testing? In one test run on average of the LD50 test, more than 50 percent of the animals die. The LD50 test is a test that forced 60-200 animals to do this. How would you feel if a rabbit, like a pet you own, was getting force fed this? Nowadays scientist limited this test to 6-10 animals, but that’s just this test. I still believe no animal, should die this way whether it’s cosmetic, medical, or everyday chemicals like paint. (Added the ways I meant.)

Animal testing is a substantial controversy across the nation. According to Rush, Catherine M. et al. “Animal Models to Investigate the Pathogenesis of Rheumatic Heart Disease.” Frontiers in Pediatrics 2 (2014): 116. PMC. Web. 27 Oct. 2016., animal testing has been around for quite some time. Her article states that “Animals have been used repeatedly throughout the history of biomedical research. Early Greek physician-scientists, such as Aristotle, (384 – 322 BC) and Erasistratus, (304 – 258 BC), performed experiments on living animals. Likewise, Galen (129 – 199 / 217 AD), a Greek physician who practiced in Rome and was a giant in the history of medicine, conducted animal experiments to advance the understanding of anatomy, physiology, pathology, and pharmacology. Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar), an Arab physician in twelfth century Moorish Spain, introduced animal testing as an experimental method for testing surgical procedures before applying them to human patients.”

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.

Facilities that use animals for teaching, experimentations, surgery or testing purposes are known as research facilities. Currently, there are twelve animal research facilities in the state of Alabama ("General Information on Animal Research"). There are many different reasons why animals are used for research. Animals are used to test the products used in cosmetics, for biomedical research, for military defense and food production. Many people including the general public, scientists and government officials do not necessarily agree to the terms and conditions to which these animals are used for testing

You may think of animal testing and picture a wet bunny all beat up and shivering in a cold barren cage. However, this is not the case, for the law requires that the lab animals are housed in an environment appropriate for their species and are well cared for (Institute for Laboratory Animal Research, 2011). Animals tested on in a laboratory can actually adapt with minimal stress and are provided with everything they need by highly trained professionals. Animal care standards in a testing facility are, more often than not, better than those at shelters, pet stores, even farms. However, I do not wish to neglect the test animals’ discomfort, for

Animals are used by scientists to develop research for new medications and experiments daily. The Humane Society is working to decrease the use of animals in laboratories by promoting the advancement of affective alternative approaches. Animal testing provides a useful model for treatments of diseases and possible cures. According to the US-based foundation of Biomedical Research, animal testing has made a major advance within the last century- for veterinary health and humans. The practice of using animals for testing has been debated for many decades. Is it morally right or wrong to use animals during experiments? Does federal law ensure that animals used in research are treated humanely? When considering the benefits of animal testing,

Many humans use animals for testing each year. Animal testing is when the animals are put through something or injected to see how they react to what medical research they have been used for. It's impossible to know exactly how many animals are being used in research because U.S. laws do not require scientists to report how many mice, rats, or birds they use, but it’s estimated that 90% of lab animals are mice and rats. It’s crucial that everyone know why animals should not be used for testing of harmful substances because the testing is trivial especially, when testing for products in the cosmetic industry, animals experience the same feelings as human’s such as, pain or pleasure and testing is cruel and unusual.

Animal testing, although a controversial topic, affects a great deal of scientists and the work force in the agriculture field. This topic has proven difficult to communicate to one another about because there are individuals that believe animals should have certain rights and others believe that animals have no rights. Our group wanted to research this topic because we want to gain knowledge and become more understanding toward the people on both sides of the spectrum. Digging more into the research we found that cosmetics, medical use, and food are the most widely used methods for experimentation. With these research fields, people are finding ways to appeal to the ethics of the modern-day consumer.