Around the world, an estimated 115 million animals are used in various medical research facilities per year (“Animal Testing,” n.d.). The relationship of humans and animals have been entirely interdependent since early on. Traces of animal testing have dated back to as early as 500 B.C. Even today, numerous species of animals are used for investigation throughout the world. These animals include, but are not limited to, mice, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, birds and non-human primates such as monkeys and chimpanzees. Countless people display contradictory positions on animal practices; numerous individuals view animals as partners, while others use animals on behalf of enhancing medical practices and expanding experimental exploration. Prior research has revealed that there are a variety of explicit features that influence people to either aid or contradict the practice of using animals in medical research. Many people consider the kind of animal used, style of study being directed, and how the animals are treated in the experiment (Henry & Pulcino, 2009). Since animals have been universally tested in various fields of experimentation, the ideology of medical research has been a continuous debate within humans. This paper will present alternative positions pertaining to the topic of animal practice in medical research and conclude with a position that seems most permissible.
Perspective One: One side of the argument consists of medical researchers who are proponents of
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 when people use animals in experiments, to test their reaction to what is being tested. The range of animals used in testing is from tens of millions to more than a hundred million used annually. There has been much debate about this topic, because, animals are the most reliable sources to use, especially mice, because we share 95% of our genes with them, which makes them the most common animals to use. Although, many people think animal testing is crude and inaccurate science, but the other hand is, would we rather use humans?
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
Animal testing is a common practice in current life that is necessary to ensure the safety of the humans that will be using the tested product. There are many good and bad aspects of animal testing, but the pros clearly outweigh the cons. Animal testing has been around since ancient times when animals were dissected to gain knowledge about the body and organs. The animals killed from animal testing make up a tiny percentage of the total animals killed every year. When just considering the animals used for food compared to the animals used for testing, testing animals make up a mere 2.6 percent of that number. Public safety far outweighs the lives of the small amount of animals killed.
At this moment, millions of animals know cold cages in laboratories as home, but why? Some of these animals are subjects for medical research purposes, while others are used out of pure curiosity and to test different products. Majority of these animals are used in painful experiments and are left in agony. While many of them die, a few animals survive, but these unfortunate ones wish they could be put out of their misery as well. Although scientists have resources they could use to lower the pain each animal endures and even alternatives of their test subjects, millions of innocent creatures are still suffering. The fact that animals are still used when animal experimentation is avoidable and not necessary makes animal testing unethical.
To support or not support animal testing practices has been a long debated topic. Animals have been used in medical and cosmetic tests since the 1900s leading to numerous medical treatment breakthroughs and ensuring the safety of everyday products we use. Recently animal advocate groups have called for the abolishment of animal testing, causing a divide on whether or not to continue animal testing. In order to keep innovating new solutions for diseases that plague our communities and loved ones, allowing the use of animal testing to end preventable tragedies must occur.
are not able to give consent for this as would be required of a human. Other
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
Animal testing is a horrible way to test products because its extremely cruel to the animals used. Scientists everywhere are using animals to test there products. "There could be as high as 115,000,000 animals per year used in testing, most of them get *euthanized at the end of the experiment". According to the article this house would ban animal testing from ideabate.org. "research on living animals have been practiced since 500 B.C." Think about how many animals that have been used! First of all, animals are being taken away from there homes to be used for testing. Secondly, research can be done effectively without harming an animal or human. Lastly, animal research causes harm to the animal. All of my reasons
Millions of animals are being unneedlessly tested on for cosmetics, even though there are plenty of alternatives available and most of the results are unreliable or not applicable to humans. Although the fight against animal testing has made huge progress recently, America has yet to stop this cruel practice and chooses to torture animals while other countries are making a stop to the testing (“Animal Testing 101”).
Ninety two percent of experimental drugs that are safe and effective in animals fail in human trials because they are too dangerous. Animals are being put in situations like this with little to no help. An estimated 26 million animals are used every year in the United States for scientific and commercial testing. Animal tests are used for everything from drugs to makeup. The majority of medical treatments you have used were, at one point, tested on animals.
In the field of scientific research, animal subjects have become a primary source of medical testing. Investigating the effects of these procedures and chemical experiments to generate evidential conclusions is widely disputed by opposing audiences today. Advocates propose the necessity of animal usage in scientific testing for the advancement of human welfare, while critics argue on behalf of the rights available to such animals used in these procedures. Despite the controversial debates and publications written about this topic, the harsh realities of its practice continue to linger. A statistic often supplemented to the context of this issue, reported by the nonprofit organization PETA, says “More than 100
Every year, millions of animals suffer through painful and unnecessary tests. Animals in laboratories all over the world live lives of deprivation, pain, isolation, and torture. Even though vast studies show that animal experimentation often lacks validity, leading to harmful human reactions, we still continue to use this method of experimentation, while many other less-expensive and more beneficial alternatives exist. Going beyond the issue of animal experimentation being morally wrong, this form of research is also hindering medical progress. Although the use of animals in laboratories is said to be necessary for the welfare and health of humans, people mistakenly believe that this immoral and unscientific method of experimentation is
“Beauty without cruelty” is the outcry that can be heard from animal right activists around the world. The FDA does not require companies to perform tests on animals but if the cosmetic product contains chemicals that can be seen as toxins, testing becomes a necessity. There are currently thirteen safety tests that are performed on animals.