Take a Stand
Is Animal
Testing
Necessary?
"There is no reason to continue to use nonhuman animals for
scientific or commercial testing. There are ample non-animal
alternatives that are readily available that are just as good or
better in the Ethical, Economical, and Educational arenas.
“If you want to test cosmetics, why do it on
some poor animal who hasn't done anything?
They should use prisoners who have been
convicted of murder or rape instead. So,
rather than seeing if perfume irritates a bunny
rabbit's eyes, they should throw it in Charles
Manson's eyes and ask him if it hurts.”
― Ellen DeGeneres, My Point... And I Do
Have One
Many teachers and researchers agree with this point of view.
https://www.the-scientist.com/newsopinion/software-based-chemical-screen-couldminimize-animal-testing-64491
Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado and author
of The Emotional Lives of Animals
Free-Choice:
Images, graphs (with URLs cited)
https://www.animalalliance.ca/animal-researchcanada/
Summaries of Sources
Defense of sources (Why are these
sources credible?) No
https://www.veggieathletic.com/food-giantsinvolved-in-animal-testing-scandal/
Marc Bekoff, PhD, former Professor of Ecology and
Additional power-quotes
“But the toxicology tests on which regulators rely to
gather this information are stuck in a time warp, and are
largely based on wasteful and often poorly predictive
animal experiments”
The toxicity tests that have been used for decades are
“simply bad science”, he explains. “We now have an
opportunity to start with a clean slate and develop
evidence based tests that have true predictive value.”
“To test a chemical for its potential to cause cancer takes
five years and involves 400 rats. More than 50% of the
results are positive, of which 90% are false positives.”
Thomas Hartung
Lists of sources for further study
https://speakingofresearch.com/facts/medical-benefits/
https://animal-testing.procon.org/
https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/sciencecommunication/201
6/10/22/animal-testing-is-it-necessary/
http://www.vib.be/en/aboutvib/organization/Pages/Why-animal-research-isessential.aspx
https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/fact-sheetcosmetic-testing
Thesis Statement:
(Animal Testing is
unnecessary, because
it causes animals
suffering, it costs
more money and we
have other
alternatives.)
Most Compelling Evidence:
1) It causes animals to
suffer.
According to the 1988 Animal Welfare
Enforcement Report by the Department
of Agriculture, about 94 percent of all
laboratory animals reported are not
exposed to painful procedures or are
given drugs to relieve any pain caused
by a procedure.30 The remaining 6
percent of animals are exposed to
painful procedures because to relieve
them of the pain would defeat the
purpose of the experiment. Even in
these cases, however, the pain is usually
neither severe nor long-lasting.
https://www.nap.edu/read/10089/chapter/12
2) It costs more money.
According to the Lexington HeraldLeader, the $71,000 that went to the
cocaine study is only the tip of the
iceberg. Among several different
institutes studying several different
addictive substances, the scientific
community has wasted $20 million
taxpayer dollars exposing animals to
drugs for a variety of arbitrary and
pointless tests.
https://www.care2.com/causes/high-cost-of-animaltesting.html
3) We have other
alternatives.
These alternatives to animal testing
include sophisticated tests using human
cells and tissues (also known as in vitro
methods), advanced computer-modeling
techniques (often referred to as in silico
models), and studies with human
volunteers.
https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-forexperimentation/alternatives-animal-testing/
Commentary: So what?
Why should we care? Where
do we go from here?
Animal testing is unnecessary and sometimes
it’s cruel and inhuman. Scientists are
researching other alternatives to reduce animal
experimentation. Those alternatives cost less
money and safer than experimenting on
animals. In some cases, animals don’t receive
pain relieve so they experiment pain, this is
cruel. Animals died because their necks are
broken or from the effect of injections.
Mock Poster Template
Name: Alice Nguyen
Period: 3
Date: December 1, 2018
To avoid the space constraints above, you may, alternatively, draft your board below:
Thesis Statement: (Animal testing is unnecessary because it causes animals suffering, it costs more money and we
have other alternatives.)


Most Compelling Evidence:
1) It causes animals suffering: According to the 1988 Animal Welfare Enforcement Report by the Department of Agriculture, about 94
percent of all laboratory animals reported are not exposed to painful procedures or are given drugs to relieve any pain caused by a
procedure.30 The remaining 6 percent of animals are exposed to painful procedures because to relieve them of the pain would defeat the
purpose of the experiment. Even in these cases, however, the pain is usually neither severe nor long-lasting.
2) It costs more money: According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, the $71,000 that went to the cocaine study is only the tip of the
iceberg. Among several different institutes studying several different addictive substances, the scientific community has wasted $20
million taxpayer dollars exposing animals to drugs for a variety of arbitrary and pointless tests.
3) We have other alternatives: These alternatives to animal testing include sophisticated tests using human cells and tissues (also known
as in vitro methods), advanced computer-modeling techniques (often referred to as in silico models), and studies with human volunteers.
Commentary: So what? Why should we care? Where do we go from here?
Animal testing is unnecessary and sometimes it’s cruel and inhuman. Scientists are researching other alternatives to reduce animal experimentation.
Those alternatives cost less money and safer than experimenting on animals. In some cases, animals don’t receive pain relieve so they experiment
pain, this is cruel. Animals died because their necks are broken or from the effect of injections.
Background Information
What is the history of this issue?
Animals have been used repeatedly throughout the history of biomedical research. Early Greek physician-scientists, such as Aristotle, (384 –
322 BC) and Erasistratus, (304 – 258 BC), performed experiments on living animals. Similarly, Galen (129 – 199 / 217 AD), a Greek
physician who practiced in Rome, conducted animal experiments to advance the understanding of anatomy, physiology, pathology, and
pharmacology. Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar), an Arab physician in twelfth century Moorish Spain, introduced animal testing as an experimental
method for testing surgical procedures before applying them to human patients.
Who is affected?
Animals such as mice, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs and monkeys.
Why is this issue important?
Animal experiments are performed in Belgium and in many other countries. These experiments are performed on animals, in most instances
because it is impossible to perform them on humans. Animal experiments are performed for scientific – particularly biomedical – research,
for the testing of the safety of certain consumer products and for the testing of the safety of chemical substances.
Persuasive Appeals
Best example(s) of research (ethos):
As a science student nearing the end of my degree, this burning question is at the forefront of my mind. Since neuroscience may be the field
that I major in, whether I want to use animals is an important factor to consider.
Best example(s) of research (logos):
An estimated 26 million animals are used every year in the United States for scientific and commercial testing. Animals are used to develop
medical treatments, determine the toxicity of medications, check the safety of products destined for human use, and other biomedical,
commercial, and health care uses. Research on living animals has been practiced since at least 500 BC.
Best example(s) of research (pathos):
The harmful use of animals in experiments is not only cruel but also often 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.