¨Should animals be used for experimentation¨ is a question that has been floating around since the 1960s. This is an argument that has been going on for 50 years because of moral beliefs, medical reasons, and personal experiences. All of these factor in deciding whether we are for or against animal testing. There are laboratories and biomedical research groups that promote animal testing, while organizations like P.E.T.A (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) discourage animal testing. In 2013, a poll was conducted about if animal research was morally wrong or right. The poll resulted in 56% Americans morally approving it and 39% saying it was wrong (Procon, 2017).
Researchers and citizens that morally approve these kinds of experiments
When using your cosmetic products on a daily basis, do you think of all the animals harmed and killed in the making? Cosmetics include products used by us every day, such as toothpaste, makeup, shampoo, soap, deodorant, etc. In the 1930s, the United States Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act compelled cosmetic companies to start testing the safety of their products on animals, beginning a long journey of violating animal rights. Since then, laws have changed, allowing companies to use alternatives that do not involve animals to test the safety of their products. Even though companies are not mandated to test on animals anymore, some still choose to do so for various reasons. Therefore, animal testing in the cosmetic industry is immoral because it is not mandatory and violates animals rights, and it has to end.
For years, scientists have experimented with animals to study how diseases and disabilities affect them. Take neurologist Thomas Gennarelli for example. Dr. Thomas Gennarelli used primates as test subjects. For a little bit over 15 years, he bashed primates to imitate head injuries in human beings. He believed the results of his experiments would be beneficial in the future on how we should treat head injuries. The team that worked for him recorded the data via videotapes. Unfortunately, as much as he tried, Thomas Gennarelli flopped and could not create duplicate head injuries. In 1984, participants of the Animal Liberation Front broke into the University of Pennsylvania’s Medical school and swindled the tapes that’s withheld the data from the experiments. They edited the tapes to show the most gruesome abuses of the primates and submitted it to People for Ethical Treatments of Animals. Peta then submitted it to Congress and the media. Participants of these experiments claimed they appease the primates with drugs, so they would feel not pain. The videotapes told a different story. Just before the hammer smashed their heads, the primates tried to escape. The researchers used foul language and performed unsanitary procedures upon the primates. They mocked and chuckled at attentive primates with broken arms. The National Institutes of Health analyzed the videotapes. Thomas Gennarelli was condemned of 9 charges such as unacceptable veterinary care and lack of guidance for the
Another question now comes to the surface is a continuity/discontinuity argument. What the continuity argument is, is that animals are closely related to humans, they still produce the same emotions. Using animals in psychological experiments poses a serious ethical dilemma in part. In response to the continuity argument would be the discontinuity argument. This argument states that humans are different to other species. What this means is that research on animals provides this limitation on findings in human behavior that are not generalizable. Scientist use their best efforts when conducting experiments to allow animals the safest and most beneficial actions. Scientist always put in the consideration that the animal may be harmed. The American Psychological Association in turn prevents any type of experiment/study that shows any possible distress or harm to the animal.
There are over 26 million different types of animal being tested on for research each year in the United States. Animals are used for testing every year for human research. Different animals go through serious pain, in order for humans to facilitate growth in different fields of study. Many animals are used in order to study diseases and potential cures for the diseases. New research chemicals are tested on animals with similar structures to humans, to see if the medicine can help with certain diseases. Tons of scientific advancement has taken place because of animal testing. Without animal testing, many diseases would still exist, without a safe way to test for potential cures. The issue at hand is the type of treatment that animals have to endure because of the different testing methods. They are treated very poorly, go through intense suffering, and normally have very poor living conditions. A pro to animal testing is that many cures and different medicines have been developed through animal testing. Without animal testing, many diseases would still exist without cures. Secondly, animals have a much shorter life span than humans do, so scientists can study the results through the whole life span of the animal. With humans, it is hard to do a full test because we have such high lifespans, while animals tend to live a lot less longer. Thirdly, many animals have been saved because of animal testing. Many diseases animals deal with now have vaccines and cures, as a result of animal testing. Without it, many animals would have rabies or other types of virus that can be detrimental to the animal’s health. On the contrary, a con to animal testing would be the pain many animals go through as a result of the testing. The tests are experimental, so we don’t know exactly what the chemical drug will do to the animal. Many cases have turned bad and many animals have died as a result, or gone through extensive pain. Next, there are many alternative methods of experimental testing that doesn’t require animals. As a result, why are we still using animals for testing when there are other ways to do it. Finally, animals are different from humans, so they make poor testing subjects. We can’t know for sure how the research
plays crucial role in acceptance of drugs. Scientists said that it is very necessary to
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.
Animal research has been going on for thousands of years. It is estimated that in the U.S that about 26 million animals are used for testing and experiments each year. Animals are used to find treatments for diseases, test medication, and test products to see if they are safe for human use. People might say that animal testing has help with the creation of live saving treatments for humans and animals. Others, like me, believe that some of the test performed on animals may be cruel and inhumane. In this essay I am going to show the pros and cons of animal research to get a better understanding for this practice.
“It’s perfectly fine if we do science experiments on humans without their consent, right?” I didn’t think so. If it is inhumane to test new chemicals on humans, then what’s the difference with animals? “How would a scientist like to have a new chemical put in his or her eye to see if it is irritating?” “Would a researcher be willing to receive head injuries so that new treatments could be tried out?” “Would a medical company president train sales representatives how to use a surgical stapler on his or her own child?” (Day 59-60) Several think it is alright that we experiment on animals, because of their lack of cognitive ability, language, or moral judgement. However, discriminating an animal by those characteristics is equal to discriminating
Have you ever wondered how it would feel to be forced to do things against your will? Every year more than 100 million animals suffer each year. They are forced to eat, get physically hurt, and overall being traumatized. Despite animals not being exactly like humans, they still feel the same pain and emotions as us. Animals should not be used in medical testing or product testing because animal testing is cruel and inhumane with animals being forced to do things they wouldn't want to do.
Throughout history, animal experimentation has played an important role in leading to new discoveries and human benefit. However, what many people tend to forget are the great numbers of animal subjects that have suffered serious harm during the process of experimentation. Many people are believed to be ignorant or misunderstand the nature of the lives that animals actually live, and are unable to understand the actual laboratory procedures and techniques. Other than the philosophical questions that arise, ethical (moral) questions are the main reason why many animal right activists want it banned in every country. Activists feel that to this day, there should be no good reason why any living thing should be subjected to this cruel punishment and unwanted torture just for serving another being’s needs.
Charles Darwin, a renowned scientist, wrote to the Oxford zoologist Ray Lankester in 1871 : “You ask about my opinion on vivisection (animal testing). I quite agree…it is a subject that makes me sick with horror, so I will not say another word about it else I shall not sleep to-night, ” So you’d think, that nearly 150 years after Darwin’s words there would be some change in opinion. You’d think that when a scientist’s idol shows absolute disgust for animal testing they’d stop, especially as there are more effective and money-saving methods today. Experimenting on animals is cruel and morally wrong. Even as I speak, animals are being crammed into cages in the name of medical ‘research’. Animals are very different from humans, their anatomical structures are also different, so why test on animals when it the drugs they are being tested with are meant for HUMANS? What kind of sick logic is this?
Animal testing, although extremely debated, is something that should no longer be practiced anywhere around the world. Let’s start by taking a look at just how much animal testing is practiced in the United States as well as in other countries. The article called, “Animal Use Statistics” from the Humane Society International, says, “Only a small proportion of countries collect and publish data concerning their use of animals for testing and research, but it is estimated that more than 115 million animals- including mice, rats, birds, fish, rabbits, guinea pigs, farm animals, dogs, cats, and non-human primates- are used and/or killed in laboratory experiments each year around the world.” I find this to be very absurd and so wrong that this
As society grows with age, it strives to advance in all areas of life. With the turn of the century, a major advancement in all aspects of science, including medicine, is to use laboratory animals to test potentially dangerous substances and research if the substances would be compatible with humans. Many people have issues with animal testing as they believe it is inhumane to use animals to put them in potentially dangerous situations. However, much progress has been made using animal research. The information gained from animal research has paved the road to everything from hair restoration to cancer treatments. Animal research has progressed humanity into new levels it could only dream of and should remain an essential practice.
Do you think that animal testing is economically sound? Animal testing is wrong for the
Imagine an innocent little rabbit...who was taken to a dark lab... and had makeup viciously rubbed on their skin...burning like fire. Having their eyes clamped open with no way of freedom with irritating fluids rushing in the rabbit’s eyes blinding them. Why would people be okay with this tiny animal being tortured? Animal experimentation is wrong and cruel to animal species. Medical and cosmetic testing has been done for years and it has been a controversial issue for some time. Some people having been debating whether or not there should be animal testing for past years. As stated by Sally Driscoll and Laura Finley, animal experimentation has been used for beneficial research, but is not worth the lives and abuse of the animals. Sadly, the ProCon organization explains “how over 26 million animals are mistreated each year for both scientific and commercial purposes.” Continuing animal testing is like people smoking cigarettes. It is an issue that is just being ignored and has to be stopped. Animal testing should be banned because it cannot always be accurate, there are other options that can benefit research efficiently, and it can kill and torture animals.