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Essay on What the Government Should do About Animal Testing

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I scan my keycard and walk through a set of double doors, past the examination rooms and a door labeled organic waste. I walk into a complex and intricate maze of dark hallways. The doors read canine testing, swine feeding lab and primate testing environment. Upon looking into the dark rooms; one can make out the cages that once held chimpanzees. The sole purpose of this area is animal experimentation. This area, one of the most secure on the campus, has a separate dock and security cameras at every turn. I have had the opportunity to work in the animal labs of one of the largest corporations in the world. This discourse is my argument on animal experimentation and why the state should allow animal testing for the sake of humanity but …show more content…

Animal testing is important to our society because of the rise in issues concerning the topic. In recent news for example, China is ending cosmetics testing on animals. Issues like cosmetics testing on animals do not go unnoticed. It is also important because animal testing has already contributed to our society and continues to do so.
The history of animal testing dates back over a thousand years and is reflected in today’s arguments. The earliest record of animal testing is during the Greek and Roman times. As David Degrazia mentions in his article, On the Ethics of Animal Research, animal testing during the medieval era brought the discovery of lung function and the circulatory systems. In 1876 the first law was enacted against animal testing in the United Kingdom. In 1959 the first major report on animal testing was published. The report by William Russel and Rex Burch created the three R’s. The three R’s; refinement, reduction and replacement are the ethical guidelines for animal treatment. Current laws on animal testing are from 1966 and 1986 for the United States and European Union respectively. These laws forbid animal testing on vertebrate animals but exclude farm animals. Also, special permissions are needed for more severe testing and on certain animals.
The three R’s are refinement, reduction and replacement and they strive to

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