Essay about The Ethics and Limitations of Animal Research

Animal testing is cruel and an inhumane way to torture animal for mankind’s own benefit. There have been millions of animal that have suffered a vicious, painful death in the name of research. Just as Peter Singer asked in his book Animal Liberation “Would experimenters

Animal activists and scientists experience ongoing conflict between animal experimentation and biomedical ethics. Animal testing is one of the oldest methods of experimentation. In the 1980s, the animal rights movement and the argument surrounding the ethics came under fire. As a result of this movement, the experimental procedures became public, giving more incentive to the activists and momentum to their cause. The ethics of animal experimentation come into question in everything from beauty products to the food and vitamins that are sent to consumers worldwide. However, because of the industries ' involvement within animal experimentation, many consumers do not know how these products they are purchasing are tested. Although the ethics of experimentation have come into question, new ideas of experimentation have progressed. Within the biomedical field, new testing methods for both medicine and beauty products have evolved. Because of this new technology, activists against animal experimentation argue that the necessity of animal experimentation is unneeded. In contrast, scientists argue it is not outdated. Despite the progress made by the activists many scientists still believe that animal experimentation will be needed. Although animal testing may have served as a useful tool in the past, it no longer is as accurate as the new technology and research methods from the 21st century.

Another unethical side of animal research is that once a study is complete and depending on the species and type of research that the animal was used for, the animal may be euthanized. Numerous animals are used in research, experimented on and then killed. Some of the animals are permanently injured and will continue to live the remainder of their life in captivity. Many of

Animal testing is used frequently among the field of research to identify new cures of the modern science field to help cure disease, find cures, or simply identify variables in a theory. Yet, it is brought to question: is it morally wrong to test another living organism that is not a human being? Billions of animals lose their lives each year due to animal testing. Animals should be attributed to help enhance the fields of Psychological Research as long the experiments have a higher gain value than the level of cruelty that is imposed upon the animals that are being used for testing. Although the line between what is considered an effective research or pain caused for human financial benefit; there are two mindsets that are pointed out to continue animal research: the scientific view and the ethical view. But, most importantly to identify the purposes of a choice done by ethical egoism and contractarianism to benefit individuals financially and instead have utilitarianism content of moral norms to use on the animal research field.

Animals have successfully been used to understand biological processes, assess safety of different chemicals, develop vaccines and antibiotics, produce treatments for hepatitis C, rheumatoid arthritis, polio, diabetes and many more . However, it is impossible to know if the use of animals was required to acquire this research or if the amount of suffering and death could have been reduced or avoided in order to achieve the same results. It is well established that animals have been invaluable in the pursuit of biomedical research, and the benefits from using animals currently means that eliminating animal research is also immoral. This is because the benefits received from some research greatly outweigh the potential costs to the animals and it would be unjust not to perform such experiments. Consequently, animal research should not be fully banned due to the benefits it yields, but should be more heavily regulated to reduce the moral costs.

Some even believe that there is no practical value for this type of research and that it is esoteric in nature and only answers theoretical questions. I happen to disagree with all of that. We must note that animal research has been put to good use in many categories such as; disease and disease cures. Psychological disorders, child rearing and education just to name a few. Yes, it may be true that this type of research may be limiting. But, I don’t see it as being unethical. Is it unethical to eat animals, use them for farming or sport? Make them service animals or domesticate them for our own enjoyment and amusement. I hear tons of stories of animal abuse and hoarding. In fact the other day I heard another one of those stories on the news where a woman had 60 cats in small apartment. That to me is not humane and is quite dangerous to the animals and others around

For thousands of years animals have been used as research subjects, but with the advancement of science and society, animal experimentation has morphed into a controversial bioethics topic. Animal experimentation is the use of animals in scientific research. This experimentation ranges from testing pharmaceuticals on rats to measuring the elasticity of tendons in rabbits to implanting mechanical devices in calves. And while the FDA has dozens of guidelines to keep animal testing as ethical as possible, a strong opposition to animal research (particularly mammalian research) still exists.

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.

Scientists use animals in order to make medical advancements to help humans however, it is often difficult to get the same results in both animals and humans. The biology of humans and animals is not the same, although there are some similarities. According to Akhtar, in an article titled “The Flaws and Human Harms of Animal Experimentation”, “Annually, more than 115 million animals are used worldwide in experimentation or to supply the biomedical industry” (Akhtar). Millions of animals are used, against their will, to try to help humans. Although there are some instances in which the experiments have helped humans, is it really worth the pain and suffering that all of those animals have had to suffer. Akhtar also stated “Although it is widely accepted that medicine should be evidence based, animal experimentation as a means of informing human health has generally not been held, in practice, to this standard” (Akhtar). There has been some cases in which testing medicine on animals has benefitted humans, however this type of result is hard to duplicate. Often when a result is achieved in the lab, there are many influences that can cause these

The aim of this presentation is to highlight why animals research exists in the field of psychobiology and psychology. Firstly, an explanation of the benefits of conducting animal research, with research examples targeted at the central nervous system (CNS). Then, the focus is to highlight the ethical issues surrounding animal research, such as cruelty to animals and their rights. Thirdly we will be looking at the extent to which animal research has increased our understanding of human psychology. This is then followed by a brief summary of the main points covered in the presentation.

Animals have been treated immorally since the beginning of time, this is shown by hunting, farming, trapping, testing of products and biomedical research etc. As humans, majority of us claim animals as our resources as we use them for eating, making clothing, (leather and fur jackets, shoes) working animals, as a means of transport, animal testing etc. In this essay I will discuss the use of animals in biomedical research and state why some believe it is morally justified. I will then present an objection to argue why biomedical research is morally unjustified and why I believe this. I will write this essay using resources from Tom Regan 's, “The case for animal rights”, David DeGrazia’s, “The ethics of animal research: what are the prospects for agreement?’, Baruch A. Brody’s, “Defending animal research: An international perspective” and Peter Singer’s, “Animal Liberation at 30”. I will then come to my own conclusion based on the different perspectives from the above philosophers and by using my own knowledge on the issue.

Do animals feel pain? Do they suffer when in distress? Almost all animal research is conducted for better understanding of human diseases and illnesses, rarely are animals used for the benefits of animals. Is the pain felt by animals worth the advances in human understandings? I will discuss what animals are used for, why they are used, the ethical dilemma of animal research, laws relevant to the study of animal experimentation and my personal stance on the matter.

Animal experimentation also known as animals testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments that seek to control the variables that affect the behavior or biological system under study (Wikipedia). Animal experimentation is a highly controversial topic as many debate between whether it is ethical to use animals for such experiments or research and if the use of animals is really necessary. Many argue that there are other methods that we can use to test out certain studies and products while others argue that the use of animals is crucial because it is inhumane to use people. I personally feel that we need to use animals for animal experimentation for many reasons such as there just isn’t a functioning system quite the same as ours, everyone including animals has benefitted from the tests and many other reasons that will be further discussed. But I do however, feel that animals should be treated better and put in better living conditions prior to being experimented on. I understand both sides of the argument and am prepared to advocate for both sides in this paper.

They need the necessary social interactions, physical touch, and activity to be healthy. However, the longer these animals are trapped in these cages, the more they developed certain neurotic behaviors. For example, they began to make these erratic movements within their cages, constant rocking, head banging, and self-mutilation. The senses of the primates are distorted in these double sealed cages. They can only hear the humming of air pumps into their enclosures and the sound of their fellow primates banging against the cages.

Animal experimentation by scientists can be cruel and unjust, but at the same time it can provide long term benefits for humanity. Animals used in research and experiments have been going on for 2,000 years and keep is going strong. It is a widely debated about topic all over the world. Some say it is inhuman while others say it’s for the good of human kind. There are many different reasons why people perform experiments and why others total disagree with it.