Animals Have Feelings Too
How many animals are used each year for animal testing? The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection believes there to be about 10 to 11 million experimented on in the United Kingdom, and the United States Department of Agriculture has tested upon 1,137,718 animals, not including mice or rats, in 2002 (Bidnall n. pag.). These statistics are only from two countries throughout this entire planet, which entirely surpasses prudency. Animals are not lesser than humans because they do not have the same intelligence, or a higher pain tolerance. Animal experimentation is unethical and should be banned.
It is true, of course, that animals are similar to humans and it seems easier and more ethical to test upon them in our society; however, animals are physically and emotionally harmed during testing. Without a law against it, and no ability to deny the tests, animals are the easiest test subjects. It is believed that they cannot experience the same level of suffering that a human can. Each year in United States laboratories and others around the world, millions of animals are used for experiments to test everything from suspected carcinogens to the insignificant toxicity of anti-per spirants. Some animals endure physical or mental pain in the course of research, but these experiments are still in progress because people believe that they are essential for human health. Many of the medical breakthroughs in the past century have resulted solely on these animal experiments (Leepson n. pag.). What gives humans the right to manipulate animals? “‘To my mind, we shouldn't be thinking of monkeys as commodities, disposable resources that can be the object of distressing experimentation, for example,’ says Mark Bernstein, a professor of philosophy and ethics at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. ‘Just by virtue of their sentience, their capacity to suffer, they should have the minimal right to not suffer,’ he says. ‘We don't treat compromised human beings’ —
It is true, of course, that animals are similar to humans and it seems easier and more ethical to test upon them in our society; however, animals are physically and emotionally harmed during testing. Without a law against it, and no ability to deny the tests, animals are the easiest test subjects. It is believed that they cannot experience the same level of suffering that a human can. Each year in United States laboratories and others around the world, millions of animals are used for experiments to test everything from suspected carcinogens to the insignificant toxicity of anti-per spirants. Some animals endure physical or mental pain in the course of research, but these experiments are still in progress because people believe that they are essential for human health. Many of the medical breakthroughs in the past century have resulted solely on these animal experiments (Leepson n. pag.). What gives humans the right to manipulate animals? “‘To my mind, we shouldn't be thinking of monkeys as commodities, disposable resources that can be the object of distressing experimentation, for example,’ says Mark Bernstein, a professor of philosophy and ethics at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. ‘Just by virtue of their sentience, their capacity to suffer, they should have the minimal right to not suffer,’ he says. ‘We don't treat compromised human beings’ —