The Negative Side of Effects of Animal Experimentation

How could one not feel guilty when looking into a test animal’s eyes and seeing all of the pain and suffering that they have endured? Over 75-100 million animals are used for scientific and medical research per year. (Baumans) Animals should not be used for scientific and medical research because it is unethical, humans and animals are not genetically identical resulting in failed tests, and there are other techniques to conduct research.

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.

Have you ever wondered why animals are used in experimentation? Each year over 100 million are killed due to experiments for biology lessons, medical training, chemical, drug, food, cosmetic testing, and curiosity driven experimentation. The better question is why? Why use animal when there are many alternatives. Animals may not be able to speak up for themselves but humans have a voice for them. Many people have participated in protest, taken surveys, and created organizations to protect animals from the cruelty.

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.

Every year more than 100 million animals die in United States laboratories due to animal experimentation (PETA). Animal testing first began in the fifth century BC when Greek Philosopher Alcmaeon of Croton conducted a vivisection, cutting or operating on a live animal for scientific purpose, of a dog’s eye to learn what causes blindness (“Animal Experimentation”). Animal testing and experimentation has been frequent in society since then; however, the experiments have become controversial. In the early seventeenth century, scientist began working on the animals that had died so there would be no harm caused to them; unfortunately, the physical processes in these animals had stopped and the experiments were unreliable so they returned to the practice of vivisection.

A quote from an experimenter showed his view on animal testing “Because the animals are like us.” Experimenters were asked why it is ok to test animals the answer would be “Because the animals are not like us.”

Everyday humans interact with animals. Whether monitoring animals in zoos or having them as pets, humans have engaged in either positive or negative relations with animals. Animal experimentation also known as animal testing has been highly discussed, because of the questionable experiments being done on animals, and the way animals treated in general. Looking at the history, effects, and alternatives to animal testing, human involvement in the lives of animals as well as the ethicality of animal testing will be confronted.

Albert Einstein once said, “Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty." Animal testing is an extremely controversial topic, where most of the confusion is caused by a lack of knowledge on the topic. Many agree that animals should not be used for scientific or commercial testing.

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.

Animal experimentation reflects the poor status of humanity. According to “Estimates for Worldwide Laboratory Animal Use” (2005), it is estimated that more than 115.3 million of animals are used in laboratory experiments each year. The animals included are mice, rat, birds, fish , rabbits, guinea pigs, livestock, dogs , cats and non-human primates.

Thesis Statement: Although animal testing has played a significant role in scientific development, the use of animals for scientific inquiry is morally wrong.

Many people believe that animal experimentation is the best way and the only way of finding research for humans. People believe the alternatives that exist would not work good enough for getting research as using an animal would, but scientists explain that if the alternatives are good enough the scientists would be glad to use the alternatives. Besides, they believe testing on animals make the research results one hundred percent accurate, and is considered the best option for collecting information. Animal research states, " The bodies of animals are like humans in the way that they perform many vital functions such as breathing, digestion, movement, sight, hearing...." (AnimalResearch). This proofs that animals are great for research because animals have a similar body function to a human body. Animals are a great part of experimentation to find information about treatments, medication, diseases, beauty products, etc. Although scientists use many animals over the years it is for a good reason the scientists say, animals suffer while getting tested to look for future outcomes towards diseases. Also, Animal testing has saved so many lives by coming up with medications and treatments for humans, that is not the only benefit

“Imagine living inside a locked closet without any control over any aspect of your life. You can’t choose when and what you eat, how you will spend your time, whether or not you will have a partner and children, or who that partner will be. You can’t even decide when the lights go on and off. (Cruelty to Animals in Laboratories.)” This is the horrifying reality that animals used in animal experiments have to face. Animal experimentation is the use of animals in scientific research. Animals help scientists learn more about diseases that occur in humans and animals. Scientists also use animals to test new treatments, medicines, surgical techniques, and more. Different animals can be used for these experiments and the experiments can

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.

“Ask the experimenters why they experiment on animals, and the answer is: ‘Because the animals are like us.’ Ask the experimenters why it is morally OK to experiment on animals, and the answer is: ‘Because the animals are not like us.’ Animal experimentation rests on a logical contradiction”, said Professor Charles R. Magel. For centuries, animals have been used to help develop new medicines and to test the safety of various products. People have different views of animals; most look at animals as pets while other view animals as an advancement to furthering research. No matter what the individual perceives about animals, the reality is the same because animals are being take advantage of by research and cosmetic facilities across the world. A significant percentage of people do not realize what is happening to animals every day in laboratories; animals are suffering from the hand of humans. Even though people do get benefits from animal experimentation, but at the cost of animals going through torment and being slaughtered. The human benefits do not out weight the value of the animals’ life. For this reason, animals should no longer be a part of experiments of any kind.