Should Animal Experimentation Be Permitted?

Should Animal experimentation be permitted?

Throughout history, animal experimentation has played an important role in leading to new discoveries and human benefit. However, what many people tend to forget are the great numbers of animal subjects that have suffered serious harm during the process of experimentation. Many people seem to be ignorant or misunderstand the nature of the lives that animals actually live, and are unable to understand the actual laboratory procedures and techniques. Moral questions that arise from this issue are the main reason why many animal right activists want it banned in every country. Many activists feel that even to this day, there should be no good reason why any living thing should be subjected to this cruel punishment and unwanted torture just for serving another being’s needs. Over the years the animal rights movement has grown increasingly and brought the issue of laboratory rights to the eyes of the public. All forms of media have increased their exposure of animal right protests over the past few years. Today in our society animal experiments are widely used to develop new medicines and to test the safety of other products. Each year in the United States, an estimated 70 million animals are maimed, blinded, scalded, force-fed chemicals, genetically manipulated, and otherwise hurt and killed in the name of science, by private institutions, household product and cosmetics companies, government agencies, educational institutions, and scientific centers. So many animals suffer serious harm from the experiments that take place every day. Many people are unaware of the harm and torture these innocent animals are put through for testing on the products that we use everyday such as shampoo, hair products, etc. The issue has gained a lot more publicity over the past few years, which has helped make people more aware of what is going on to these animals, but it is still a problem that we have in our society. If it’s too much harm to test these experiments on humans then why do people find it out to test it on animals? It’s not right that we are aware of this issue and continue to let it happen and not enough people care enough to stop it. We tend to be ignorant and or misunderstand that these animals are living creatures just like humans. These animals are unable to understand the laboratory procedures that they are being put through. Just because they can’t process information the same as humans do, doesn’t mean we can use them and torture them for our own benefit. If we are not allowed to torture and harm humans for scientific research then we can’t go and do it to animals that can’t even stand up for themselves and try and stop the person from doing harm to them. The whole issue plays into morality and doing the right thing. If you don’t have a voice to stand your ground then you shouldn’t be taken advantage of. Animals have no say in the torture they are being put through and people need to open their eyes and realize that what they are doing is morally wrong and not fair. These animals are innocent and don’t deserve to have harm done to them. Some animals are even being killed in the process. Scientists do not have any right to take away that animals freedom and manipulate, blind, and feed them chemicals and end up killing them. Many people have the opinion that animal testing and research is completely based on false premises, that the results that are obtained from such experimentation cannot be applied to the human body. Not only do animals react differently from humans where drugs, experiments and vaccines are concerned, but they also tend to react differently from each other. Ignoring these differences has been and will continue to be extremely costly to human health. There has been a case where a certain drug has tested fine on animals but ended up being extremely dangerous and life threatening to humans. Animal bodies are similar to the human body but they are not identical. Not only is the experiments harming the animals but it can do harm to humans. Just because it tested fine on an animal doesn’t mean a human will react completely different from it and harm them. The research is unreliable and in some cases is putting our lives at risk. The testing is unnecessary and innocent lives are being harmed in the process which in the end is not worth it. The most common argument to be used against this issue is that we can and have benefited from the animal experimentation. Some of our most common and productive drugs, such as insulin, have came to be because of animal testing. If it weren’t for animal testing then all of our cancer research, etc would come to an end. This information is true but the testing is still unnecessary. Today we have so much technological advances that we didn’t have back in the old days. It is very possible we can use our high-tech technology to find cures to illnesses and diseases. There are ways to finding out scientific information without harming an animal in the process of it. Using a body that is similar to a human may be helpful for research but we can’t resort to killing and taken advantage of an animal for research. Human lives are important, but who says we so much better than everyone and everything else living in our world that we have to kill animals to benefit for ourselves. We can’t harm humans and test them so we resort to the next best thing? It’s not worth hurting an innocent creature for research and we shouldn’t have the power to do it. They are a living, breathing thing in the world that deserves to live and not undergo procedures and swallow chemical and we mentally manipulated. It’s cruel and morally not right. For years and years we have spent so much money on financing this animal research. We could have taken that money and put it into better use for trying to find cures and help medical research instead of killing animals with it. There is a different approach that has to be taken in order for this to benefit everyone. We do need to find cures but it’s a lot more important that animal research ends. You can’t apply information and data you gathered from one species and use that same knowledge and compare it to a completely different species. We need to put an end Animal research. We can’t keep harming animals and risk harming our own bodies, the information gathered could react differently on humans. Animals have no voice to stand up for themselves so we need to stand up for them. They are living creatures and don’t deserve to have these procedures done to them. It’s unmoral and people act like its no big deal. They do nothing to deserve that torture and manipulation. So many animals have been harmed and even killed in the process and it is still a growing number. People may have gained valuable information from these experiments and tests but in the end it’s not worth killing a living thing so another living thing can benefit from it. Humans are no better than an animal, they deserve a chance to live and not have their freedom taken away from them. Animal experimentation and research is a huge issue in our society and needs to be taken more seriously. 25 million animals are used for research every single year. These animals are abused, killed, force-fed, etc. They have no voice to try and get themselves out it. They are taken advantage of, and most importantly having their freedom taken away from them. Many people don’t mind animal experimentation because they think humans can benefit from these tests and experiments and help us out. There have been proven flaws in these tests over the years and humans do not always benefit considering we are completely different species and have different bodies. Animals do have equal rights as humans because they are living creatures too. We have so much technology that we can find different ways to go around this issue. We do not need to kill off animals and torture them to find cures for cancer. Humans think their needs and lives are more important than any other living thing in our world. Disease and finding cures is a huge concern in our society but killing off another creature is not the way to do it. We are taking away the freedom and dignity of these humans and pretending like they have no value or importance in our world. These procedures are unjust, unfair, and unmoral. Animal activists have been taken stands for years now and will continue to do it until it ends. The issue has gained a huge amount of publicity over the years and it will continue. People are becoming more aware of the issue and hopefully people will realize that we can end these experiments once and for all.

Works Cited
Kanade, Shrinivas. "Animal Testing Statistics." Buzzle.com. Buzzle.com, 17 Oct. 2011. Web. 20 May 2012. .

Cunningham, Mary Ann, Marci Bortman Bortman, and Peter Brimblecombe, eds. "Animal Rights." Environmental Encyclopedia. 3rd ed. 2003. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 20 May 2012.

Duignan, Brian. "The Modern Animal Rights Movement." Thinkers and Theories in Ethics. 2011. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 20 May 2012.

Post, Stephen G. "Animal Research: II. Philosophical Issues." Encyclopedia of Bioethics. 3rd ed. 2004. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 20 May 2012.

Strickland, Bonnie B. "Animal Experimentation." The Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology. Detroit, MI: Gale Group, 2001. 35-37. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 20 May 2012.

Cited: Kanade, Shrinivas. "Animal Testing Statistics." Buzzle.com. Buzzle.com, 17 Oct. 2011. Web. 20 May 2012. . Cunningham, Mary Ann, Marci Bortman Bortman, and Peter Brimblecombe, eds. "Animal Rights." Environmental Encyclopedia. 3rd ed. 2003. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 20 May 2012. Duignan, Brian. "The Modern Animal Rights Movement." Thinkers and Theories in Ethics. 2011. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 20 May 2012. Post, Stephen G. "Animal Research: II. Philosophical Issues." Encyclopedia of Bioethics. 3rd ed. 2004. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 20 May 2012. Strickland, Bonnie B. "Animal Experimentation." The Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology. Detroit, MI: Gale Group, 2001. 35-37. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 20 May 2012.