Word Count: 795
Animal Testing
The United States has a history of ethically questionable actions that would never be
tolerated today. For example, human slavery, the purchasing and selling of humans as property,
was seen as acceptable for over a hundred years. The slaves were simply seen as unequal to other
humans because of the color of their skin, so it was okay to do with them as the white owners
pleased. Today a similar practice is conducted with animals: millions of animals are tested and
experimented on each year for cosmetic, medical, military, and space research. Since animals are
seen as property and unequal to humans, it is deemed acceptable to put the animals through the
torment of animals testing. Pete the rat, for example, is testing L’Oreal’s new lipstick line but
unfortunately for him he was part of the 50 percent of the LD- 50 Test that died a slow and
painful death. This is the case for many animals that are tested on and there needs to be a stop to
this menace.
Some believe animal experimentation is beneficial to society. First, animal testing has
contributed to many lifesaving cures. Almost every medical breakthrough in the past 100 years
has been discovered through animal experimentation (“Animal Testing”). Next, many animals
share similar characteristics with humans which makes test results more accurate. Chimpanzees
have 99 percent similar DNA to humans and rats have 98 percent similar DNA to humans
(“Animal Testing”). Last, animals do not have rights like humans; therefore, it is okay to test on
them. Since animals do not have the cognitive ability or moral judgment of humans, they are
unequal to humans. Also, animals have shorter lives than humans so their lives are less valuable.
Overall, some believe animals are the best way to research products for humans while avoiding
human fatalities.
While animal testing has created many breakthroughs in science, it is simply unnecessary
to use them. There is no evidence that animal testing was necessary to medical breakthroughs
and the money and resource could have been devoted to animal free testing alternatives. Animal
testing is a cruel and inhumane act that should never be practiced. Animals are commonly
subject to force feeding, force inhalation, food and water deprivation, prolonged periods of
physical restraint, the infliction of wounds and burns, and the infliction of pain. Animals feel the
same physical and psychological pain as humans (“Animal Testing”). Most experiments are
flawed anyway, wasting the lives of animal subjects. Animals are supposed to be protected by
the Animal Welfare Act but it is poorly enforced and 95 percent of animals that are tested are not
protected under the Animal Welfare Act anyways (“Animal Testing”). Animals are not the same
as humans so they make poor test subjects, certain drugs that are good for animals may be bad
for humans and vis versa. The arthritis drug Vioxx protected mice hearts but caused over human
27,000 heart attacks before being pulled from the shelf (“Animal Testing”). Overall, no species
on this plant should have to endure the unnecessary suffering that these animals go through.
The reckless treatment of these living beings is disgusting. Just because a certain group is
“inferior” to another group (which is controversial itself) does not mean that they do not feel the
same pain as the “superior” group. To put it in perspective, imagining my own pets being locked
up in tiny sharp cages and being inflicted with pain is heart breaking. My dog Zoey would feel
the same amount of pain as Pete the rat when their skin reacts poorly with the toxic chemical in
the lip stick. There are many alternative ways to test products that don't involve harming animals.
First, in vitro testing uses human cells to produce more relevant results than animal testing
(“Animal Testing”). Next is microdosing, the administering of doses too small to cause adverse
reaction can be used in human volunteers whose blood is then analyzed (“Animal Testing”).
Even artificial skin ,which is made from sheets of human skin cells, produces more useful results
than testing chemicals on animal skin (“Animal Testing”). Also, microfluidic chips, which are
lined with human skin cells to recreate the functions of human organs, are being developed
(“Animal Testing”). Computer models can predict the toxicity of substances without
experimenting on animals (“Animal Testing”). Basically, there are more effective and less
invasive ways to test products.
Overall animal experimentation is an unjustifiable menace in today's society that must be
stopped. In 100 years, Americans will be ashamed that such an advanced civilization could let
something so barbaric occur. Humans now believe that this behavior is acceptable because
animals are considered below humans but they feel just as much pain as humans. In the end we
are all just living beings who receive pain and emotions the same. This planet must work
together to better life for everyone, not just for specific groups.
Works Cited
"Animal Testing - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. ProCon.org, n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2015.