Paige Simone English Research Skills "Atrocities are not less atrocities when they occur in laboratories and are called medical research." ~George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Introduction The everyday products we use such as toothpaste, makeup, and medicines have more than likely been tested on an animal in a laboratory before being available for human consumption. These animals suffer greatly and live lives of isolation and torture. They endure cruel treatment all in the name of scientific research. Many people believe that these tests are necessary to discover cures for human illnesses. This is simply not the case. There is a large amount of research that indicates that animal experiments often lacks validity and do not stand up when transferred to human beings. In addition, the moral issue of vivisection is one that we must all struggle with as human beings. Mohandas Gandhi said “I abhor vivisection with my whole soul. All the scientific discoveries stained with innocent blood I count as of no consequence.” and "To my mind the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body. I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to the protection by man from the cruelty of man.” Scientists and all human beings alike have an obligation to develop alternative methods of testing drugs and products that do not harm animals. Paige Simone English Research Skills
due to cruel chemical, drug, food, and cosmetics tests as well as in medical training exercises and curiosity-driven medical experiments at universities. Even though modern non-animal tests have been repeatedly shown to have more educational value, save teachers time, and save schools money, animals still suffer and die in classroom biology experiments and dissection. Examples of these horrid tests include forcing mice and rats to inhale toxic fumes, force-feeding dogs pesticides, and dripping corrosive chemicals into rabbits’ sensitive eyes. Even if a product harms animals, it can still be marketed to consumers. Contrarily, just because a product was shown to be safe in animals does not guarantee that it will be safe to use in humans. An exact number isn’t available because mice, rats, birds, and cold-blooded animals, who make up more than 99 percent of animals used in experiments, are not covered by even the minimal protections of the Animal Welfare Act and therefore go uncounted.
Mohandas K. Gandhi once said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”. What, then, does it say about the people of the United States, for allowing the deaths of millions of innocent animals for the benefit of research, that in most cases is not even useful? 100 million animals are killed each year due to animal testing or experimentation (PETA,1). In the past, it was acceptable to use animal testing for scientific research, but now that there are other viable alternatives to the testing of innocent animals, such as in-vitro, stem cell testing, non-incasing imaging techniques, and micro-dosing. Animal testing should only be used in cases where said drug or treatment will treat life-threatening diseases. Animal testing in this day and age is both unnecessary and cruel, as there are multiple alternatives and the most of the time is not useful in human research.
The issue of animal testing is a widespread and very controversial topic. It entails carrying out torturous and harmful tests and experiments on animals (most commonly mice or rats, but also other animals like rabbits and guinea pigs) for scientific research, whether it be for medical causes, products or cosmetics. In many cases, animal testing is unavoidable – it is impossible to rid the world of something humans rely on so dearly; however, it is imperative that we recognize the moral impacts of our actions and stop relying on it as a major research tactic. It is quite odd that it continues to be commonly used, despite being largely ineffective, the abundance of alternatives available, and the moral issues it brings into light.
When one researches about the medical ethics in human experimentation, it is difficult to disregard the harsh realities of it. As Leonard Nimoy stated in his role as Spock in the movie, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”. This is the cruel truth that be seen everywhere, but many people tend to ignore it since it is such a dreary thought. Many people, especially those in third world countries, are exploited every day. Large corporate companies come to typically poorer foreign nations, where there is a large gap between the rich and poor, to find cheaper workers. Many people in these foreigners tend to be desperate for money and immediately sign up for these jobs. Typical corporations would hire these people and make them work in inhumane working conditions such as long hours, less pay, and give no sanitation facilities. Although this happens on an everyday basis, there are very few people out there who challenge the large corporations. This example can also apply to medical ethics, sometimes a small amount of people have to suffer through experiments to help the general public. Although this is a morbid thought, it has been used in the past. During the mid-twentieth century, many American scientist believe that experimenting on a few people and making them suffer would create results that would be very beneficial to the general public. Today, most modern developed countries don’t believe in this ideology, but there are
Since Ancient Greece, humans have used animals as means of learning more about the world. The first known vivisection was done by a Greek philosopher, Alcmaeon, in 450 B. C. E (“Animal Testing” NP). Since then, animals have had invasives tests performed on them, been killed, and been experimented on in the name of science or for profit. Some experiments are in order to demonstrate already known facts to students, others are to further medical knowledge, and some are to test drugs and cosmetics (“Animal Testing” NP). Scientific testing on animals has led to many medical discoveries. Animals are used, and have been used for millennia, in order to make products, procedures, and life in general safer for humans - stemming from the belief that human lives are more important than animals’. In order to moralize animal experimentation, people tend to draw attention to the benefits of animal experimentation and draw attention away from the cruelties and injustice committed towards animals. To lessen the suffering and lack of fairness of animals, people should find and use alternatives to animal experimentation.
With every new emerging disease and make up trend, hundreds and thousands of drugs are tested and evaluated before they are sold and used to ensure their safety in humans. Animal testing, also referred to as animal experimentation and animal research involves experimentation on animals such as mice, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters in labs to investigate the safety and efficiency of a variety of products ranging from medication to cosmetics and even understanding the physiology of the human body. However, with masses of animals killed each year for this purpose; this essay will aim to evaluate the necessity of animal testing as well the opposition to why animal testing should not be a part of our human nature.
In the United States over 100 million animals are use for animal testing they treat them in a cruel way. However, these creatures suffer many damages and the problem is that they cannot defend themselves and if we still consuming products that includes animal testing this plague is never going to end. Some of the main reasons why we should stop buying products that they use animals for testing are because of the physical pain they cause to the animal, animals’ rights are violated when they use them for research and, the mental damage you cause to the animal if they survive.
Have you ever witnessed a white mouse with the terror filling his eyes as he looked out of his bleak cage and into the face of the big man with the lab coat? Or have you ever seen a pregnant rabbit being tortured by the people you call scientists? One of the questions facing society today is whether or not animals should be used in scientific experimentation. Animal rights activists have pointed out the fact that animals play an important role in nature and human’s lives. Killing animals for any purpose is one of the steps that will destroy Mother Nature as well as the human race. For this reason, animal testing should not be used in scientific welfare and cosmetic industry.
People always talk about how awful cruelty to animals is, but they don’t realize that they could be using products that are the result of animal cruelty. There are organizations that are designed to protect animals from cruelty, but there is nothing for animal cruelty when caused by research. There are no laws in effect protecting animals from abuse while in the use of research. Animals used in research suffer some of the worst animal cruelty seen before. Most animals die by the endpoint of research. The few lucky enough to survive throughout the tests are more than likely killed afterward (Groff 15). The number of animals killed in the use of research is one of the highest cause of death in animals recorded. Animals are forced to endure pain such as force to ingest deadly substances, contaminated with diseases, undergo chemical reactions, and so much more. The majority end result of animals used in research is death. “No laws protect animals from being subjected to protocols that include severe physical and psychological pain and suffering once the research is approved by in-house institutional committees” (Groff 15). There are laws protecting animals from people harming them out in the world, but when animals are placed in a building that states the organism being used for research there is nothing protecting them from what is done to them behind closed doors. Test subjects
“Over 100 million animals are burned, crippled, poisoned, and abused in US labs every year.” “Also in Canada, 3.02 million animals were used in experiments in 2013 and 78,294 animals were subjected to severe pain near, at, or above the pain tolerance threshold of unanesthetized conscious animals.” Animal testing is frequently used for developing beauty products and medicines and in a lot more areas. Many people believe that the animal testing is necessary for humans. New vaccines and medicines are being developed continuously as humans are exposed to the pollution and lots of diseases. However, it is hazardous and fearful for people to use a new medicine without knowing its effect. People want to be guaranteed to the least safety and the virtue of the medicine.
Experimentation in animals is cruel. While the Animal Welfare Act, “the source of all federal rules and regulations governing the use of laboratory animals”, was created in 1985, it doesn’t protect the rights of animals (United States, Congress, House, Page 1). While the basic needs of animals are protected by this act, it doesn’t protect animals from being experimented on in the first place. Animals have been injected with diseases so that scientists can try, and often fail, to cure them. They have been given unapproved drugs so that scientists can watch their reactions. This ultimately ends in the death of these animals. They are being forced to cope with disease and pain that they would not have had to otherwise endure. In the name of science, we have burned, gouged, maimed, and traumatized innocent creatures so that humans can reap the benefit of things as trivial as cosmetics. Experimentation “is cruel and inhumane, and no amount of scientific
Animal experimentation has long standing roots in human history, specifically in the cosmetic industry and medical professions. Many could argue that humanity could not have progressed to today’s advancements without a heavy reliance on animal experimentation. There are some notable cases throughout history where such testing was undeniably beneficial, although it could certainly be argued that such methods were not always necessary. With significant advancements in scientific technology and medical practices animal testing should no longer be considered necessary or a morally defensible practice.
Whenever people buy any chemical products, have they ever thought how can manufacturers guarantee the fail-safety of these products? A million of animals are killed or disabled with complete impunity is an answer for their safety; Therefore, these poor animals have been tested in several experiments throughout the world. However, most of these unkind activities performed in the laboratories are so ruthless we will never image one human doing it to another animal. As an animal right, many people feel that animal testing may have bad influences on them. In this essay, it will be contended that animal testing should be banned because it is so cruel, unnecessary and does not always provide satisfactory treatments for human’s illnesses.
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.
Using animals in research and to test the safety of products has been a topic of heated debate for decades. 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 (62). People have different feelings for animals; many look upon animals as companions while others view animals as a means for advancing medical techniques or furthering experimental research. However individuals perceive animals, the fact remains that animals are being exploited by research facilities and cosmetics