The Pros And Cons Of Animal Testing

Although animals testing help humans in many ways it can be cruel and inhuman to the animals being tested on. Depending on which lab the end up in they could be treated poorly and starved. They could be “inflicted with burn wounds and pain to test for a healing process” (Brown, 2017). This is cruel and just wrong for many reasons. “When testing to evaluate irritation caused by

The bad use of animal testing is cruel but also sometimes ineffective. “Animals do not get many of the human diseases that people do, such as major types of heart disease, many types of cancer, HIV, Parkinson’s disease, or schizophrenia. Instead, signs of these diseases are artificially induced in animals in laboratories in an attempt to mimic the

Animal testing, also known as animal research or experimentation refers to the use of non-human animals to conduct experiments which seek to control certain variables that have the potential to impact the biological systems or behaviors under study. The most commonly used animals are usually mice, cats, rats, dogs and primates. More than 20 million animals are usually subjected to food, drugs, chemical and cosmetic testing each year in the United States alone (Sharma et al, p.1). These animals usually suffer and die in the cruelest of ways despite the fact that there exist more modern non-animal tests which have been found out to save time, money and with more educational value. This essay explains why animal testing is bad and provides

Animal testing classifies as legal, sanctioned abuse. When an animal is in a lab as a test subject, there is no limit to what harm may be inflicted upon it. Over one hundred million animals go through this torture each year (PETA). These animals spend the majority of their lives in an unnatural, stressful environment, fearing what kind of thing will happen to them next. They are kept behind bars with usually no access to sunshine or fresh air, unable to act as they would if they were free (PETA). Dogs being tested on can not run around in the grass, birds can not fly around outside, and mice have no wheel to exercise on. Animals in labs go through thorough, invasive experiments, often ending in death. Many of these tests they go through

It is estimated that each year over 100 million animals in the United States are used for animal testing (ProCon.org, 2017). This is unlikely an underestimate as it is impossible to receive a correct count worldwide. Thousands of animals are to be euthanized from the complications they endure from testing. Animals are used to test scientific developments and commercial products. New medical and non-medical experiments are tested on animals to verify the harmfulness of new medications or the safety of a product that will be used on humans. Although the importance of animal testing brings more medical advancement over the years using fewer humans in experiments, it is still an expensive way of researching inaccurate results and at the same time, it is a practice of animal cruelty.

A lot of people all over the world have pets of all kinds. Dogs, cats, mice, rabbits, etc. Have you ever imagined your own pet being tortured with experiments? Alone, scared, in pain. Animal testing is a very real thing and I real problem. Animal testing will eventually lead to the extinction of our own pets. Even with other methods of testing, they would rather inject, burn, and kill these animals. Testing subjects can be any where from a tiny mouse to a big Golden Retriever. These innocent animals go through painful and terrifying procedures every day. Scientist force these animals to feed, force toxic inhalation, deprive them of food and water, inflict burns and pain, even decapitation, neck-breaking, and killing by carbon dioxide asphyxiation.

I had the privilege of interviewing Tracy Ziegelhofer, who for fifteen years has been a manager for Envigo, an international private company that works to advance pharmaceutical development, modern therapies, and test the toxicity and safety of substances through animal testing. She reassured me that the stereotype animal testing has been given could not be more false. Animals who are used for testing are specifically bred for this purpose; they are not taken out of their natural habitats (APSPhysiology). Additionally, of the 26 million animals tested each year (ProCon Team), mice and rats account for more than ninety percent, where large animals such as pigs, dogs, and primates make up the remainder (Ziegelhofer). After successfully testing cardiovascular devices for humans on a beagle, Ms. Ziegelhofer adopted the dog, informing me that many animals are “retired” after testing and are put up for adoption. Animals who exhibit pain are humanely euthanized following an experiment (Woods). She also described the quality of life for laboratory animals. “All the animals are very socialized,” she said, “They have plenty of toys to enjoy playing with, and of course they have beds for relaxing, and they always have food available to them,” she continued (Ziegelhofer). Regarding what laboratories can and cannot do, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have

“In laboratories across the United States, dogs are being run on treadmills until their hearts give out; rabbits are hallucinating on LSD; mice are convulsing in PCP withdrawal; pregnant ewes and cows are having their uteruses invaded with wires and electrodes; and monkeys are vomiting as they withdraw from heroin.” According to the article “Agression Studies on Animals” by Betsy Swart from 2015. These experiments are just a few of the unfair and cruel ways in which animals are being tested on today.

In the United States, over 100 million animals are used for experimentation and testing every year. Most of these animals will either live a lifetime of misery and neglect or face death. A copious amount of controversy surrounds animal experimentation because of the way it is performed. Animal testing is done to test products for harsh chemicals, for medical research, and educational purposes.

Animals have suffered as a result for thousands of years. However, there is no longer a need to involve the use of animals in experimentation, as there are different techniques that would produce more generalizable results to humans (e.g. in-vitro cultures). It has been shown that a small percentage of successful trials involving animal testing actually lead to the observation of those same results in human trials. For this reason, animal testing should not be used in scientific experimentation, as there are superior alternatives that avoid the suffering experienced by animals, without losing any progress on medical

In regards to animal research, my opinion is that it is extremely beneficial to medical and cosmetic research, but there should be regulations in order to ensure that these subjects are treated as humanely as possible. Cosmetic testing is a type of animal testing in which cosmetic companies will test the safety of their products for human use. This will allow the cosmetic company to determine if a certain product causes any rashes, reactions, etc. Animal testing for medical research is the use of non-human test subjects in order to observe how certain variables will affect the subject. For example, a researcher would give an experimental medication to mice in order to observe the effects of that medication on their behavior, biological system, offspring, etc. Overall, there are several pros and cons to animal testing for cosmetic and medical research, but the pros outweigh the cons. Regardless of one’s opinion on animal testing, the pros/benefits obtained from this type of testing are extremely hard to refute (Tappenden 1). Animal testing has contributed to countless cures and treatments that have saved thousands, if not millions, of human lives. For example, insulin was discovered through an experiment conducted on dogs that had their pancreases removed. Without this experiment, millions of diabetic patients would have been negatively affected or died. In addition, animal testing is a viable option because it provides researchers with a living test subject that is genetically and biologically similar to humans and it allows researchers to study a test subject throughout their entire lifespan as well as their offspring. The benefit of using animals that are genetically and biological similar to humans is that they are affected by many of the same diseases, conditions, and disorders. In regards to studying these subject’s entire lifespan, it is extremely beneficial that researchers are able to see the effects over an entire lifespan and their offspring’s lifespan because it gives us a glimpse into an area we wouldn’t have been able to observe prior to animal testing. If we were to complete testing on humans, who live about 70-80 years on average, this would not allow researchers and scientists to see the

By Laura Blue, a significant point is mentioned, “We often hear you can't give aspirin to cats because it's toxic to them, or you shouldn't give chocolate to dogs. Chocolate, which is very safe in humans, is not safe in dogs.” Animals are not the best method to test chemical products on, because their biological makeup differs from ours, like I stated earlier. All of the side effects of animal testing are negative to them, and include conditions such as Illness, skin irritation, pain, genetic mutation, and almost always result in death. The animals come from many places such as zoos, compounds, and breeders. Although the animals may be suffering physically from the pain and torture, they are also suffering by being taken away from their home environment and family’s. It has also been scientifically proven that animals feel pain and emotion cognitively as

What is perhaps most shocking about the use of animals in experiments is not only cruel, but often ineffective. In fact there is only around a 37% success rate in determining a drug’s effect on human. Animals do not get many of the diseases that humans do, such as heart disease; many forms of

For many years, animals have been used as experimental hosts for treatments and products that exist today. These animals are live hosts, making them open to experiencing every torturing pain that is inflicted on them by the experimenter. A majority of animals that are tested on later die. Animal testing does not give accurate results relating to humans. These tests should not be practiced any longer.

According to the National Institutes of Health, animal testing has been around since the days of philosopher Aristotle. According to ProCon.org, there are an estimated 26 million animals used for scientific and commercial testing in the U.S. alone. Animal testing has brought many good things to the medical world, such as the treatment various disease. Also, the animal is being tested by many cosmetics companies. On the other hand, organizations like PETA- People of Ethical Treatment of Animals have fought against the medical testing of animals. There are pros and cons that come with the usage of animals in the biomedical and cosmetic testing, and each side needs should be carefully examined before deciding one way or another.