The Pros And Cons Of Animal Testing

Each year, “more than 100 million animals are killed in U.S. laboratories for biology lessons, medical training, curiosity-driven experimentation, and chemical, drug, food, and cosmetics testing.” There are all types of animals that are used to do these experiments. Animal testing is inhumane and cruel, and causes pain to living creatures. Also, the reaction of drug in an animal 's body can be very different from a human 's body. An important thing about animal testing is that it can be very costly and unnecessary. Testing on animals should not be permitted because it is causing unnecessary harm to a living animal.

Many people believe animal research will help the medical field and the marketplace. Animal tests are often considered to be one of the cheapest routes to supply the demand of new and exciting ingredients in their products and to make sure they are "safe" but this is not true. Some of the main causes for animal testing are 1. To advance scientific and medical understanding. Most of what we know today about drugs and the body's anatomy and functions can be traced back to the experiments from animal research. By comparing the differences between the animals and studying the similarities scientists are finding new cures and new drugs. And 2. To protect the safety of the customers from harsh chemicals. The animal research tests provides data on the products and safety. Though these may be good reasons to experiment the abusive way they are going at it is very wrong and inhumane. Millions of animals are affected by animal testing and they need us to be their

Every year in the United States approximately 26 million animals are used for scientific and commercial testing. The animals are used for a variety of reasons such as, to develop medical treatments, determine the toxicity of medications, check the safety of products intended for human usage and, other biochemical, commercial, and health care uses. Ever since 500 BC, animals have been used for testing. Animal testing has had many positive outcomes; it enabled the development of many lifesaving treatments for animals and humans. There has yet to be found an alternative for testing and researching a living organism, however many people consider animal testing is harsh and inhuman. Furthermore, animals and humans are different so, the results of

Chemicals, cosmetics, household products, and medical devices have been tested on animals such as mice, rabbits and rats, and more for a number of years. It is assumed that a humans’ response to these types of products will often correlate with the responses of an animal (Testing). Animals are tested because they are deemed as key information to help develop new medicines, and discover more about human health and biology. Some believe using animals only for human advantage is morally wrong, while others believe not experimenting at all would hinder our understanding of well-being and ailment, which would affect the progress of new and vital treatments. Researchers are mandated to follow specific instructions in order to minimize the harm experienced. The first of the instructions is using a substitute like human volunteers, cell culture, or computer modelling when applicable. Next, is bettering experimental procedures and communicating with other researchers so that the same experiments are not being repeated by several people, which will accordingly reduce the number of animals used. Lastly, less invasive procedures are used when possible to reduce stress or discomfort, and expand medical care and living conditions (Should animals be used in research, 2017).

Experimentation of animals has animal rights advocates and some scientists questioning the effectiveness and validity that animal testing has a meaningful impact on medical advancement. Dating back to the 2nd century B.C., early Greek scientists performed experiments on living animals for the purpose of advancing their knowledge and understanding of the human body. However, recent research has proven that animals rarely serve as good models for the human body (Animal Testing, 2015). Everyone agrees that animals are used for research. Some people believe that it is unethical treatment of animals, while others believe that animal testing is necessary for the advancement of improving human health. (People for the, 2014). Experimentation on animals is costly, unethical, and unreliable, and should be prohibited.

In today's society, animals are used for countless experiments, testing, and in class studies. This is cruel to animals and inhumane to torture these animals simply because we have the power to. In fact, when animal testing occurs 95% of the drugs fail when it comes to human trials.(Crueltityfreeinternational.org) Animal testing is an inhumane  and unethical method, which has not been efficient enough to be used in today's world. There are many reason for which we should put an end to animal cruelty. The fact that it simply isn't reliable when it comes to humans, also it is a huge waste of taxpayer dollars with the few results that it comes up with, it has also proven to be dangerous to human life and resulted in casualties, not only human lives though but it has been deadly to animal lives, and last scientists have developed humane, modern, and effective non-animal research methods. Animal testing has gone on for far too long for the technological advance we have had.

According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, every year about 100 million animals will be used for lab testing in the United States.(PETA) These animals range from fish to horses, and everything in between; and although this type of experimentation endangers the lives of animals, still many argue that it greatly benefits mankind. The opposition believes that limiting animal experimentation will stop the progress they are making in science, and experimentation in laboratories isn't unruly. The American Association for Laboratory Animal Science, or AALAS, has established nine guidelines that all experimenters must follow when using animals; these guidelines were put in place to protect animals from being harmed. Although they were intended for the purpose of protecting animal rights, most scientists don’t comply with them. Cases of animal abuse and neglect have risen and are very common amongst laboratories. These guidelines created are not providing enough restrictions to prevent animal abuse in the laboratory setting. Solely using guidelines will not stop the abuse and neglect that goes on in these experiments.

The tests that are performed on animals is a page ripped straight out of the most terrible horror book, something that no living, breathing creature should be forced to endure. According to the Humane Society , the tests include “Skin and eye irritation tests” where “ chemicals are rubbed onto the shaved skin or dripped into the eyes, without any pain relief”, “Force-feeding” where they look for indicators of illness, or health hazards like cancer or birth defects, as well as “lethal dose” where “animals are forced to swallow large amounts of a test chemical to determine the dose that causes death” (Humane

Animals testing has become a cruel and repetitive method in the cosmetic and medical industry. Not only is the practice inhumane, but is also argued by many researchers and scientist to be ineffective. Millions of animals are killed every year in the United States because of animal testing. The United Kingdom, New Zealand and Turkey have passed laws in the last decade protecting animals from the unnecessary torture of lab testing. The United states needs to follow suite, enforcing improved laws banning cosmetic and medical animal testing. The use of animals in labs and research is a problem that has been happening for thousands of years, animals have been used for testing the safety of food and chemicals. Records as far back as 500 B.C. show animal welfare has been a low priority in human evolution. The testing researchers do on animals reacts differently on humans; consequently, they waste millions of dollars, time, and innocent lives.

“Over 100 million animals are burned, crippled, poisoned, and ambushed in US labs every year” (dosomething. org). Many different types of animals are being tested for multiple reasons such as cosmetics, medicines, pesticides, drugs and different cleaning and germ killing household products. There has been a lot of controversy and debates about testing products on animals. Both scientists and animal activists have voiced their opinions and concerns on the issue.

In the United States, 26 million animals are used annually for cosmetic or scientific research and testing. Animal testing is widely controversial because it could potentially harm the animals being used while there are alternative methods that could be used in place of animals. But, from a scientific standpoint, animals in testing are one of the main reasons we have been able to make advances in medicine and diseases. These facts make it tricky to pinpoint exactly if animal testing is good or bad (“Should Animal Testing Be Used for Testing”).

While it may be true that in certain instances animals do have to undergo harsh testing such as when testing the toxicity or side effects of certain drugs or perceived harmful chemicals, this testing is necessary to prevent use of these harsh chemicals on humans in the future. It appears that many people are under the impression that this type of testing makes up the majority of testing done on animals. The morality in testing animals solely for the purpose of seeing what can kill or harm versus what has positive effects is not overlooked by scientists and there are many regulations and guidelines in place to prevent the use and abuse of animal test subjects such as the Public Health Service (PHS) Policy and Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals provided by the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare.

It is estimated that over one hundred million animals are killed each year because of animal testing. The term “Animal Testing” refers to experimentation which takes place before human clinical trials to determine the dosing, toxicity, and efficacy of products for humans. This includes animals being tested for medical research, cosmetic products, and curiosity-driven experimentation. Many times this leads to animals being treated inhumanly and has led to serious controversy in whether or not animal testing is actually effective. In fact, many studies show that testing animals is not a direct analogy for impacting humans, it also kills an unprecedented amount of animals, and throughout the years scientists have found alternative methods for creating beneficial products for humans.

“Before their deaths, some are forced to inhale toxic fumes, others are immobilized in restraint devices for hours, some have holes drilled into their skulls, and others have their skin burned off or their spinal cords crushed.” (PETA association, 2014) For many years, people have been killing animals to perform tests on them. This needs to stop, humans are abusing animals by conducting harmful experiments on the animals. The abuse and testing can lead to death of the animal. These animals are all suffering from exploitation through cosmetic testing, medical training, and chemical/drug testing.

The questions whether animals have rights and if they do, are their rights on the same status as humans’ have always been ones to cause controversy. Many are adamant about animals’ equality and how emotionally similar they are to humans, noting their capability to feel pain. On the other hand, there are those who point out a creature’s primal instincts and lack of better judgement as reason why animals should be treated vastly different. As for my thoughts, I will be heartbroken to see an innocent creature being mistreated and wrongly abused. An animal can evidently suffer, and it will be difficult to believe that someone will deliberately allow that to happen. That being said animal testing in medical research is a more complex issue. While there is moral ambiguity concerning the harm being done to the creatures involved, animal testing will most likely remain a critical part in the development of medical treatments.