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Taylor George
Mrs. Chambers
5th period
22 November 2013
Each and every day millions of animals are being taken into laboratories all around the
world to be tested for multiple reasons. Animals could be tested to find new medicines or cures
to diseases. No matter what the reason may be, animal testing needs to come to an end. There are
many people who have a variety of feelings towards the act of experimenting on animals. The
issue of animal testing consists of a range of opinions by many different people. Some people
believe that the only reason animals exist is to advance technologies. In contrast, others rely on
the fact that animals are here to be companions to others. Either way, the fact remains that
animals are constantly being exploited and mistreated only for the benefits of humans. Also,
animal testing has many cons that come along with it. Their rights are constantly being violated
when animals are taken into laboratories. Alternatives and the fact that animal studies are proven
to be unreliable can stop the unethical procedures that animals are going through. Animals are
being exploited daily for no reason because scientists have not proved it to be helpful to humans.
Therefore, the use of animal experimentation is absolutely immoral and should be stopped
completely.
Animal experimentation violates the rights that all animals and humans should be given.
Although animals do not have the same abilities as humans do, they still experience a life that
should be valued. The lives of all creatures should be valued. As stated in Gale Opposing
Viewpoints, “The way animals are exploited and treated without respect is a prejudice like
racism. It is saying that some individuals don’t count simply because they are of a different race
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(racism) or a different species (speciesism)” (Animal). An animal being misused without respect
is just like a human being racist towards another. They should be treated with the same respect
that humans are treated with. Just because animals may be of different species, they are still
living, breathing creatures. Also, animals are put through procedures that could cause permanent
damage or even death, and they are never given the choice to play a part in this procedure. They
are simply being tortured. Just like humans, animals also experience pain and fear. If animal
experimentation violates the rights that they should be given, then how is animal testing ethical?
The life of an animal should be valued just as the life of a human should be valued. Tom Regan,
a philosophy professor at North Carolina State University, states: “Animals have a basic moral
right to respectful treatment… This inherent value is not respected when animals are reduced to
being mere tools in a scientific experiment” (Save). The animals are just being used to expand
scientific knowledge. Animals should be treated with just as much respect that humans are
treated with because both species have a mind of their own and experience pain. Also, since
animals are not given a choice to participate, their rights are completely violated. They are
unwillingly giving their life for the advancement of human welfare.
Recent technologies have been substituted instead of animal testing which has greatly
decreased the need for animal experimentation. There are multiple paths to take in order to limit
testing on animals. All around the world, non-animal research methods are now being used. For
example, instead of cutting through an animal to study their brain, researchers are using multiple
technologies such as, MRI, PET, and fMRI to find the information needed. This technology
gives researchers a more accurate presentation of what they are observing and it is safely studied.
According to PETA, an organization that strongly believes in the ethical treatment of animals,
“Ninety-five percent of medical schools across the U.S. have completely replaced the use of
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animal laboratories in medical training with sophisticated human-patient simulators, virtualreality systems, computer simulators, and supervised clinical experience” (Alternatives). It is
proven that there is no need for the use of animal testing because there are many alternatives to
eliminate this. Not only are alternatives safer than experimenting on animals but the newfound
alternatives are also not as time consuming. The amount of time that researchers are spending on
suffering animals could be used in new technologies that will give even better results. Animal
testing is also twice as costly as using new therapies. Researchers and experimenters are
essentially wasting money to help animals endure endless pain. On the contrary, they could be
using their money with advancements while saving animals and money at the same time.
Alternatives to animal testing do not harm animals in any way, shape, or form. Researchers have
the technology advancements to find cures to human health issues but are not using these
resources because they believe animal testing is the best solution. In addition, there are human
cell-based screenings used for drug tests, chemicals, and consumer products that are used instead
of animal testing. Here, Rowan states that, “Given the current rate of technological advance, it is
possible that by 2050 researchers will be able to answer important question about the functioning
of healthy and diseased human tissue without subjecting animals to harmful procedures”
(Rowan). Although there are many years to come before animal testing may be eliminated, it is
worth saving the lives of many innocent animals. According to Rowan, the chief executive
officer of Human Society International, “There has been a 50 percent decline in animal research
since 1975 and we are roughly at the halfway point towards the complete elimination of animal
research” (Rowan). The overall decline in use of animal testing has majorly increased because of
recent technology. Alternatives and the use of new technologies can stop the harming of animals.
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It has been proven that animal testing is unreliable. There are many proven facts to why
this is true. Researchers, as humans, physically cannot predict whether certain medicines are
going to be worth killing an innocent animal. Also, there are many limitations in using animal
research. Some researchers believe that animal experimentation is the only answer to the
multitude of questions about human health. Animal testing does not provide accurate information
and does not make reliable predictions about human health issues. If experimenters want to find
the best solutions to human health, then why are they relying solely on animals who are giving
them inaccurate information? There are many researchers that solely rely on animal
experimentation for the answers to human tissue. These researchers and scientists are forgetting
that animals are not machines that contain endless information. The obvious distinctions between
humans and animals in terms of our physiology and anatomy are what limit the accuracy of
human health outcomes. There are multiple medicines that have been beneficial to humans in the
past century, yet failed in some species of animals. This shows that the use of animal testing
gives researchers imprecise answers. Not only is testing on animals giving researchers inaccurate
information, but it is also limiting the researchers to useful medicines for humans. If researchers
find that one type of medicine failed in an animal, they are not going to try this medicine on a
human. Many medicines are prone to work in humans but not in animals, for example,
“Acetaminophen, for example, is poisonous to cats but it is therapeutic in humans; penicillin is
toxic in guinea pigs but has been an invaluable tool in human medicine; morphine causes
excitement in cats but has a calming effect in human patients; and oral contraceptives prolong
blood-clotting times in dogs but increase a human’s risk of developing blood clots” (American).
All of the examples above prove that animal studies are unreliable because there are multiple
instances where treatments are beneficial in humans but the opposite in animals. Other
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advantageous drugs or medicines may never be developed for humans simply because they fail
in animal studies. Researchers are missing out on medicines that could be beneficial to the
human race. They will never be aware of the advantages of certain medications and cures
because they are solely relying on results of animal tests. The results of animal testing are not
benefiting anyone. Animals are being harmed in the act of testing and humans are not benefiting
from their results. Vice versa, some medicines that succeed in animals could fail in a human
which causes multiple risks to the life of humans. In trusting this unreliable source, researchers
are ultimately putting humans in a life or death situation. Animal testing does not show
experimenters accurate information and is proven to be unreliable in all cases.
Animal testing is a very controversial issue. There are way too many cons that outweigh
the pros in this controversial subject. If human testing is prohibited for certain medicines, then
animal testing should be prohibited as well. The experimentation on animals may benefit
humans, but it does still not justify animals being tortured for medical research. If a researcher is
hesitating on using a certain medicine on any human, then that medicine should not be used in
the human body to start with. Humans and animals both feel pain. The animals’ reactions to pain
compared to a human’s reaction to pain are not any different. They both feel the same way when
pain is being inflicted. Trying to create a better life for a human does not justify the fact that an
animal is being tortured and oppressed every day. The life of an animal is just as sacred as the
life of a human. Scientists who believe animal testing is moral and right are not thinking about
how the animals are being treated. They are only thinking of how the experimentation could
advance in the human race. This selfish idea of testing on multiple animals is harming the animal
population as a whole. Researchers are also wasting away money on gathering animals to be
tested when they could be funding money for new machinery that is more reliable in our time.
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Animals’ rights being violated in the act of animal testing, the access to alternatives that
researchers are given, and the unreliable source are just a few reasons why animal testing is
absolutely immoral and unnecessary. Ultimately, animal testing needs to come to an end sooner
than later.
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Works Cited
"Alternatives to Animal Testing." PETA. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
American Anti-Vivisection Society. "Animal Research Is Unethical and Scientifically
Unnecessary." Animal Experimentation. Ed. Susan C. Hunnicutt. Detroit: Greenhaven
Press, 2013. At Issue. Rpt. from "Problems with Animal Research." 2011. Opposing
Viewpoints In Context. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.
Rowan, Andrew. "New Technologies Could Eliminate the Need for Animal Experimentation."
Animal Experimentation. Ed. Susan C. Hunnicutt. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. At
Issue. Rpt. from "Avoiding Animal Testing: Advances in Cell-Culture Technologies are
Paving the Way to the Complete Elimination of Animals from the Laboratory." The
Scientist (Nov.-Dec. 2011). Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.
"Save the Animals: Stop Animal Testing." Save the Animals: Stop Animal Testing. Lone Star
College System, n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.
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