What Are The Pros And Cons Of Animal Testing

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Using animals to test the safety of products and to carry out scientific research has long been the contentious issue for decades. According to the data collected by F. Barbara Orlans for her book, In the Name of Science: Issues in Responsible Animal Experimentation, sixty percent of all the experimental animals are used in biomedical research and product-safety testing (p.62). People will have different feelings for animals; many of them look upon animals as life companions while others might view animals as the resources for advancing our scientific research, especially in the medical-related field. No matter how people perceive the animals, the fact remains that the number of animals being exploited by research facilities and cosmetics companies…show more content…
For example, sophisticated tests using human cells and tissues, also known as in vitro methods, advanced computer-modelling techniques, often referred to as in silico models, and studies with human volunteers. This is partly due to the existence of some drawbacks associated with animal testing as well as the pressure given by the animal rights organizations such as PETA. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (2011) states that, “The world does not need another eyeliner, hand soap, food ingredient, drug for erectile dysfunction, or pesticide so badly that it should come at the expense of animals’ lives.” The use of animals in experiments is not only unethical but also often ineffective. Animals do not get many of the human diseases as people do, such as major types of heart disease, many types of cancer, HIV, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease or schizophrenia. Instead, symptoms of these diseases are artificially and immorally induced in experimental animals, attempting to mimic the human diseases. Humans and animals do not always react in the same way to certain drugs or medications. Thus, the results of the animal tests do not always translate to humans. By using alternative scientific tests, scientists found that it is more cost-effective, practical and it is often more reliable than animal tests. For example,…show more content…
However, that is not totally true. The data obtained from animal testing is not always reliable. Many drugs that appear to be safe and effective in animals fail in humans, or cause significant harm, and even death. A 2008 study in the journal Alternatives to Laboratory Animals showed that more than 80 HIV/AIDS vaccines successful in non-human primates failed in human trials. Clearly, animal tests are failing to protect people. This is partly because common symptoms, such as nausea, dizziness, headaches and visual disturbance, are essentially impossible to detect in animals. Furthermore, the lives of commonly used laboratory animals are up to 66 times shorter than that of a human being, making it difficult to identify side effects that are slow to develop. Dozens of treatments for stroke have been developed in animals but none has been successful in humans. In conclusion, animal testing should be eliminated because it violates animals’ rights, causing pain and suffering to the experimental animals. Humans must not justify making life better for themselves by randomly torturing and executing thousands of animals per
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