The Ethics Of Animal Testing

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.

Ferdowsian and Beck go on to add that more evidence supports that animal testing comes at a higher cost to animals than was initially acknowledged. Accounts of anxiety disorders, changes in behavior, hormone levels, and the amount of pain animals endure now drive the conversation regarding reforming animal testing practices. It is also noted that the predictive value of animal models do not translate into clinical success. The majority of animal research does not lead to improving human health. Most argue the use of animals overall is a needless endeavor when new technologies are in place that can provide similar levels of advancement, and when human tissue is available that can offer a better understand of human health.

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

“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.

With technological advancement in today’s world, it is necessary to stop and reevaluate the means of which scientific testing is being done. Being a controversial topic discussed for years, animal testing is scientific experiments involving animals being forced into harmful and cruel situations. Scientist insert deathly diseases into animals and they use many techniques to try and cure the illness. By looking at the factors of animal testing, one can see that it is appalling which is important because understanding the flaws of animal testing will help shape a better future for the scientific community.

Cohen argues that humans may morally use animals for biomedical research, the study of biological processes and disease, because animals lack rights. He defines rights as moral claims that one human can hold against another, which are bound in both law as well as in comprehension of right and wrong. As animals lack self-conscious placement in a higher ethical order with the ability to weigh needs of self against the needs of others, they therefore lack the ability to have rights. (Cohen 1986: p. 215) To support the morality of animal research, I will show how it has led to many successful treatments of disease in humans, due to the common physiology that we share with other animals. Furthermore, I will argue that the pain caused on research

Over 26 million animals are tortured and tested on every year, in the United States alone. Most are used for testing medical treatments, which people for animal testing say has saved countless numbers of lives, but how many has it destroyed in the making? Although testing on animals has lead to major scientific breakthroughs, the way in which they reach them is incredibly inhumane. We having the ability, should try our best to stop this wide spread animal testing because the tests are inhumane, the animals are abused during the tests, and the results can be achieved in other ways.

For decades, the question of ethics in using humans and animals for research has been a constant battle in the fields of science, medicine, and even cosmetics. According to the Animal Welfare Association, approximately 19,500,000 animals - including mice, dogs, cats, guinea pigs, and frogs - are killed yearly on average due to research. Although more than 50% of adults in the United States are opposed to animal testing, many popular companies like Maybelline, Vaseline, Dove, and Windex choose to remain in the shadow of animal cruelty and use animals as expendable lab equipment.

Recently, the problem of animal testing has aroused people’s concern. Between twenty-five and fifty million animals are killed in American laboratories each year, and these animals include mice, rats, cats, monkeys and son on. Animal testing is one of the traditional approaches to studying how human and animal bodies work, and it is also frequently used to test medicine and chemicals. For example, a lot of medical students do animal testing to help them learn more about the medical science and finish their assignments. Since the technology has developed, there are all kinds of drugs and chemicals that are manufactured by humans, and animals are increasingly used to make sure the drugs and chemicals work, especially when a new disease is

As I have progressed through this journey, I feel as though I have gained a much greater insight into an issue, which is of far bigger global concern than I had initially realised. The basis of this investigation was to examine the social and ethical perspectives on animal testing and within that the tendency for human beings to classify and categorise forms of life, placing themselves at the top of the ladder. Through the use of primary and secondary methodologies I have been able to appreciate many differing opinions, ranging from passionate objections to uncertainty and then those in full support of continuation.

As human beings, we all have basic rights. Animals, on the other hand, do not get a choice in what is done to them. Animals being used for research dates back to the 1500s. It is estimated that 26 million are used for commercial or scientific research every year. People often disagree on whether animals should have rights. Though they are without a voice, they still have feelings and suffer from pain just as humans do. There are better alternatives to animal testing, such as ones that do not include the suffering and torture of defenseless animals. Although animal research benefits humans in numerous ways, animals have feelings and should have rights just as humans do.

More than six million animals are used annually in research and teaching in Australia and New Zealand. Many (but not all) of those animal are subjected to some degree of pain and/or stress during the experimental procedure or as a result of the environment in which they are kept prior to

In present-day society, the ongoing intention about the importance of animals testing has been in discussion among humans and animals. There are advocates who support the cruel role of this act whilst the opponents are not favored using animals for research. In my opinion, although I believe that animals testing reserves a vital part in medical developments, people should have animal rights.

Experimenting on animals is a traditional practice in many fields of science although as times have changed it is time to start question the necessity and reliability of animal experiments. Very few tests conducted on animals actually benefit people, meaning the loss of countless animal lives with no substantial benefit to humanity. According to Andrew Rowan, “In 2004, a report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration noted that 92 percent of new drug entities were failing during human clinical trials either because the new drugs were not effective in humans (having shown promise in animals) or because they were associated with unexpected toxicity (having been demonstrated to be safe in animals)” (2015). The fact that countless experiments lead to no progress forward in terms of benefitting people it reasonable to do away with it entirely and seek alternative methods. In his article author Andrew Rowan looks forward to an age free of animal testing that will be more cost effective and beneficial than testing on animals. It is clear that if it is resulting in hardly any value to society other than trivial aspects like patience that can be achieved through less morally corrupt ways, using animals for experimentation goes against the rights they deserve to

Animal testing dates back to the Greeks and Romans. Philosophers like Aristotle would dissect live animals to study the systems of the body. Backs then animals were thought to be lesser then humans because they could not communicate and they were thought to have a simpler brain function then human. So no one cared about the animals being harmed. The ethics of animal testing are said not to have been questionable until someone’s cow was stolen in order perform experiment on. Today animal testing is still used, but in less extreme forms. Animals are use to find new vaccinations and surgical procedures to help prolong the life of humans and other living organisms. Strict guidelines must be followed when performing test on animals because now we know that animals are not inferior to humans. In fact animals have been shown to be up to 98% similar to humans.