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Persuasive Speech Outline
INTRODUCTION
I. Attention Getter: Animal research is a very popular topic these days.
II. Build Rapport: Animal research consist of testing new products for toxicity, eye
irritation, skin irritation, pyrogen testing, and many more.
III. Establish Credibility: When doing research on this topic over the past couple
months, I have found some cruel facts about animal research.
(Show Youtube video, start at :25 end at 1:17) Here are some fun facts, well not so
fun facts about animal research. That video was by Hailey Witt.
IV. Thesis: Although animal testing can be good for humans in some cases, poisoning
and killing animals is the result of it and animal research should be made illegal.
V. Preview: I will be talking about how animals are poisoned, and or killed, how most
test do not have the same effects on humans, and how there are non-animal research
methods.
Transition: Now I will be talking about the results on the animals due to the experiments.
BODY
I. Animal research should be illegal because animals are poisoned, and or killed by the
experiments every year.
A. According to Bernard Rollin, he says quote, “The vast majority of animals
“euthanized” for research purposes do not get a “good death”; asphyxiation or suffocation
by inhaled carbon dioxide is by no stretch of the imagination humane, despite its being
approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association.”
B. Animals are suffering because they are not in their natural habitat. They are also
(in this case) suffocating by inhaled carbon dioxide.
II. A counter argument is that some people say that animals will get poisoned or killed in
their natural habitat anyways.
A. This counter argument is partially true. Animals do die in their natural habitat,
but we poison and kill them by taking them out of it by testing them
B. By taking the animals out of their natural habitat, we are torturing them by
putting them into small cages, away from their families, and doing experiments on them.
C. Many other countries have banned animal research because of the animal
cruelty. The United Kingdom is one of the many. In an article by Heidi Blake, she talks
about the number of deaths by animal research to be increasing. Blake says quote,
“Almost all animals used in laboratories either die in testing or are killed at the end of the
experiment.” She said this in an article in 2009, and UK banned animal testing 4 years
later.
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Transition: The next thing I will talk about is how most tests fail.
III. In an article titled “News & Events” on the FDA website it says quote, ““Currently,
nine out of ten experimental drugs fail in clinical studies because we cannot accurately
predict how they will behave in people based on laboratory and animal studies,” said
Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt.”
A. Animals have different effects and reactions on drugs compared to humans. Not
all of the drugs that pass on animals are going to have the same effect on humans.
B. Even though some animals have close to the same anatomical build as humans,
the test will not have the same effect on humans in most cases. A human reaction to a
drug or chemical can be way different than an animal’s reaction to a drug or chemical.
IV. A counter argument is that some people say it is good for human health and
protecting us from bad drugs so why not perform the tests anyways.
A. This is true is come cases but, most of the time it is not. It is rare to when a test
passes on an animal and a human. Animals are being hurt and or killed due to the test that
supposedly benefits humans.
B. People are just being selfish when they do not care about the animals being
tested. Why not use alternative non-animal research methods so we can stop hurting
animals.
Transition: Now I will be talking about alternatives to animals in research.
V. The last reason why animal research should be illegal is because there are alternative
non-animal research methods.
A. The FDA joined many Federal agencies in forming groups to focus efforts on
alternatives to animal research.
B. In the article titled “Animal Testing & Cosmetics,” some of the agencies are
called Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods,
National Toxicology Program Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative
Toxicological Methods.
C. According to Arora, Mehta, and others quote “An apparent 40% decrease in
animal use, and the concurrent increase in the use of tissue culture and biotechnology
seems to indicate that, where scientifically valid, non-animal techniques are being used.”
VI. A counter argument is that some people say the alternative non-research methods are
not reliable.
A. In most cases this is not true. In most cases testing animals are not reliable either.
B. According to Arora, Mehta, and others, one of the different non-animal research
methods that works well and totally eliminates the need for animals is microbiological
systems. One of the test that works well is called and Ames Test, and Arora, Mehta, and
others say quote, “Ames Test which can detect 80-90% of all carcinogenic chemicals that
have been studied.”
Transition: So overall…
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CONCLUSION
I. Brakelight/Logical Closure: Animal research should be illegal because it hurts, and or
kills animal, most test do not have the same effects on humans, and there are alternative
non-animal research methods.
II. Psychological Closure: From what you have heard today, did you change your mind
at all about animal research?
III. Clincher: I hope you have changed your opinion and agree with me that it should be
illegal.
WORKS CITED
Rollin, Bernard E. "The Moral Status Of Invasive Animal Research."Hastings Center
Report 42.(2012): S4-S6. Corporate ResourceNet. 12 Feb. 2014.
Arora, T., A. K. Mehta, V. Joshi, K. D. Mehta, N. Rathor, P. K. Mediratta, and K. K. Sharma.
“Substitute of Animals in Drug Research: An Approach Towards Fulfillment of
4R's." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of
Medicine, 01 July 2005.23 Mar. 2014.
Blake, Heidi. "More Animals 'being Killed during Medical Research'" The Telegraph. Telegraph
Media Group, 20 July 2009. 24 Mar. 2014.
Witt, Hailey. "Cruelty to Animals: The Facts." YouTube. YouTube. 12 Dec. 2007. 03 Apr.
2014.
"News & Events." FDA Issues Advice to Make Earliest Stages Of Clinical Drug Development
More Efficient. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 12 Jan. 2006.03 Apr. 2014.
"Animal Testing & Cosmetics." U.S. Food and Drug Administration. U.S. Food and Drug
Administration. 5 Apr. 2006. 23 Mar. 2014.