The Pros And Cons Of Animal Testing

Animals, like us, are complex and capable of thoughts. They are involved in social structures that are similar to humans. Without a doubt, the animals that we use are capable of thinking, feeling, and suffering. Opinions about animal tests, though, vary. There is a distinct majority who disapprove the usage of animals for commercial and other scientific testings; the opinion shifts once the research is claimed to save or greatly benefit human lives, even if these claims are baseless and false. However, due to its immorality and wrongful ethics, animal testing should no longer be condoned and supported.

Animal testing has been the go-to method for medical and scientific experiments for some centuries now and has its fair share of success in the past. However, its time has come to and it needs to be replaced with other methods. Animal testing is unprecedentedly brutal and inhumane, results from animal testing won’t always apply to humans, and modern technology has given alternative methods to torturing.

Do we as humans find it hard to justify animal testing? Animal testing is the experimentation carried out on animals. Animal testing is when animals are forced to undergo a variety of medical or cosmetic procedures, which causes pain, suffering, and death among animals. Animal testing conducts more medical experiments, it is a way of researching vague productivity but is a practice of animal cruelty.

In the UK, pets have become just another member of the family. With a variety of pets domesticated and integrated within around ‘40%’ of UK households as of 2016 . Consequently, one may find it safe to assume that the United Kingdom is a nation of animal lovers. That said, many of these animals are still being abused with the RSPCA alone having rescued and collected 129,979 animals. Some may argue that this isn’t a lot when compared to the estimated 57 million pets owned , however that number is from the RSPCAs statistics and does not take into account all the dogs that have been rescued from other charity’s such as dogs trust and Battersea dogs home as well as other smaller rescue centers that specialize in different animals and breeds, and on top of this it does not count any of the animals that are still suffering.

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.

When buying cosmetics or medication at the store, do you ever think about where it came from or whom it was tested on? Animals have been used in research for the past couple of decades and it continues to be a topic of serious debate to this day. Animal testing involves the process of subjecting animals to clinical trials rather than human trials in order to test the effectiveness of certain drugs and products. The debate is whether or not it is morally right or wrong to use animals during experimentation. Many scientists argue that it is necessary to use animal research in saving lives, but animal rights activists argue that is unnecessary and inhumane. Both arguments have valid points and although animal testing has offered a lot of medical advances and knowledge over the past couple of years, that would’ve been nearly impossible otherwise, it is an inhumane process, and should be limited, if not ended all together. Animal testing should be eliminated for various reasons. The first and most important reason is that it is cruel and causes stress to the animals. They are put in cages where they undergo painful and stressful experimentation. Animals are quite intelligent and they can feel emotions just like we can. They should be allowed the freedom to experience a normal life. Another reason to eliminate testing altogether is that there are other alternatives that are more ethical. For the most part, animal testing doesn’t always provide the exact results as they would on a

Animal testing started back in the late nineteenth century when french biologist, Louis Pasteur, [7] tested anthrax on sheep to show how important vaccines really are. Despite the advantages that may have come from animal testing, it is an extremely controversial topic to this very day. People prefer to look at animals as they would humans; something with emotions, feelings, and even similar body parts. Based on PETA, over one million animals are tested on each year in U.S. laboratories [1] and what is being tested on them can range from cosmetics to household cleaners. Although the companies that are involved in the testing are being blamed for the countless brutality to animals, it is being done for the safety of humans. Is animal testing really necessary or is it doing more bad than good for business?

During 384-322 BC, Aristotle performed the first animal experiment on living animals. Galen, a 2nd century Rome physician, was considered “Father of Vivisection”. The animals that Galen dissected was goats and pigs. Eight hundred years later in current day Spain, was Avenzoar, who proposed animal testing as an experimental method before applying to humans. Since then, animal experimentation and research has been with us for thousands of years. It is has been the most effective method to test new medicines and new treatments. Due to its benefits; finding new medicines, controlled experimentation, and discovered new diseases in the animal kingdom, animal research is necessary to further expand our medical and biological knowledge.

After three dogs were forced to ingest a test substance every day for five days at Charles River Laboratories, they experienced labored breathing and a high heart rate. They became cold to the touch, were not able to be aroused and were seen with the test substance in their mouths and on their bodies. One dog died and the other two were euthanized one to two days later. (“Examples of Severe Animal Suffering in Laboratories”)

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.

Thirdly, there are many alternatives that now exist that can replace the harmful use of animals. Methods such as in vitro testing, advanced computer-modeling techniques (often referred to as in silico models), and studies with human volunteers are ways that are more inexpensive than animal testing and provide better results. For example, in vitro tests can be used where scientists study the cell cultured in a petri dish. These tests can produce more relevant results than animal testing because they use human cells which are more accurate. This methods and the other methods are not altered by the difference in species making it easier to apply the tests to humans, taking less time and money. In addition, Harvard’s Wyss Institute has created “organs-on-chips” that contain human cells grown in a state-of-the-art system to mimic the structure and function of human organs and organ systems. The chips can be used instead of animals in disease research, drug testing, and toxicity testing and have been shown to replicate human physiology, diseases, and drug responses more accurately than harsh animal experiments do. If these tests can be used rather than the testing on animals, then why do we still murder primates for unnecessary reasons?

Like Regan, I also regard myself as an advocate for animal rights, and therefore part of the animal rights movement. The torture and killing of innocent non-human animals needs to be stopped; this includes animal testing for biomedical research and in science, commercial animal agriculture, and fur farming. The termination of these lives is extremely cruel. But most of all, Animals are viewed as only existing for mankind and this is major flaw. As Regan stated, “the fundamental wrong is the system that allows us to view animals as our resources, here for us.” When crossed with ethics, it creates a dilemma. The use of animals as a resource for human needs is not necessary.

The organization, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or PETA strictly enforces that “Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”. This is an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Virginia and led by Ingrid Newkirk. PETA is also known to be the largest animals’ rights organization in the world (“About PETA”). Four areas in which animals suffer most extrusively for extended periods of time are predominantly focused on. The food industry, clothing trade, laboratories and the entertainment industry has ethical regulations that has to be followed and obeyed to perform any procedure. Although, there are hundreds of these organizations all around the world, professionals and unprofessionals abuse the rights every day. Over 100 million animals are burned, crippled, poisoned and abused in US labs every year (“11 Facts About Animal Testing”). The regulations were made by establishing different acts such as the Animal Welfare Act signed in 1966 by President Lynden B Johnson (“Animal Welfare Information Center”). This act provides minimum standards of care and treatment that should be given to certain animals in commercial selling, research, transporting and exhibiting to public. Animals advocates want this law more strictly enforced due to the veterinarians performing malpractice. Malpractice can be performed when veterinarians have poor judgement or they are careless. Although this can result in something

Animal testing has been a topic of debate for decades. Traumatic pictures of animals being abused cover social media pages. It's no doubt the tests are inhumane, breach hundreds of animal rights, and cause unimaginable suffering and pain but, is it all necessary?

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.