Argumentative Essay: Animal Testing Should Be Forbidden

Animal research can be defined as the process of experimentation where nonhuman animals are used for testing purposes (Duncan). Over the past three decades, the practice of using animals for research has brought about a lot of controversies, mostly about the morality of the practice. The fact that humans can justify the abuse of animals because of the perceived advantages clearly indicates that we have a moral blind spot. The animals share characteristics such as breathing like humans, their hearts thud similar to humans and even blood flows through their veins on the same account as humans. In fact, animals have a superior sense of taste, sound, vision and even smell to that of humans. Therefore, it would be naive not to appreciate the fact that they are at least equal to a human being in terms of pain sensitivity. Hippocrates, a philosopher, stated that all living creatures, despite having different bodies, have the same soul. Undoubtedly the motives of animal research and testing are not to harm the animals, but clearly that is what it exactly does. For these reasons, it should be forbidden to use species of animals for research purposes and experiments.

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Approximately 100 million animals may have been used in research this year alone (Russel). They include a range of many species, from chimpanzees to fish. The majority of animals used are reptiles, rats and mice and account for 85% of the total animals used in research (Russel). The idea is to experiment new products such as medicine and cosmetics on animals with no human lives at risk. In case the product works as intended, then the trials move to humans at a lower risk of negative outcomes. Tests to ensure safety to humans are conducted on a variety of products. Commodities such as household cleaners, vaccines, cosmetics, and even drugs are some of which testing is required. This deliberate poisoning of animals brings up a lot of controversy on its ethics and humaneness for the fact that it is conducted to market new products and cosmetics.

There is also a research test where animals are forcefully fed repeatedly and their reaction observed. That leads one to question the reason for repeated force-feeding animals and yet there is no application for this in human health or better yet medicine. Other experiments conducted involve killing pregnant animals and performing experiments on the animal's fetus (National Research Council). There is no reason for killing where there's an alternative of experimenting on already dead animals, as far as the experiment is concerned, the specimens are both dead.

The most unfortunate side of all this animal cruelty is that most of the substances that are tested on the animals may end up never being used. This creates a sense that the animals died in vain. That has been the aspect of animal research that is recognized as the most negative in the practice. According to the Cruelty-Free International, 90% of drugs tested are inconclusive in human trials despite the fact that animal trials showed promising results (Cosmetics Testing Is Ugly). A recent study showed that an average drug in the testing stage has approximately 93 side effects of which only 19% of them are predicted by animal trials(Maehle). Also, the safety of drugs experimented on mice and rats are 43% accurate. These figures are staggering given the fact that millions of animals die in tests each year.

Fanatics of the use of animal testing will argue that since the start of the 20th century to this date, credit for every medical marvel and achievement goes to the use of animal experimentation in some way. The Institute for laboratory animal research argues that, although there is a tremendous improvement in computing power in this age of supercomputers, none can replicate interactions between cells, molecules, organisms and the environment (National Research Council). Some will argue that advocacy for research animal rights is a double standard because nobody complains about the millions of animals bred for human consumption. Another argument presented by the animal research protagonists is that there are no alternatives for animals because they are the closest thing to humans. Studies show that mice have a genetic profile with a 98% similarity with humans while chimpanzees have 99% similarity index. Some go as far as to argue that animal cruelty is a necessary evil. All these reasons, though sensual, do not excuse the cruel treatment of the animals. Even though the above facts are true, animals are not affected by most of the diseases humans do, e.g. Alzheimer's disease, most types of heart disease, HIV and many types of cancerous diseases. Even worse, some drugs found to be safe for animals can be deadly for humans. In 2004, a drug called Vioxx which was being researched to cure arthritis was estimated to have caused 320,000 cardiovascular complications and strokes and 140,000 people worldwide lost their lives even though it was tested to be safe on monkeys and five other animal species (Cosmetics Testing Is Ugly)

Current regulations have seen researchers employ some form of restraint. The policies state that animal testing should be used only when extremely necessary. Researchers should cause as little harm and pain as possible. Russel and Burch (159) proposed 3 guiding principles for research using animals namely; replacement, reduction, and refinement. Replacement is the adoption of non-animal methods unless absolutely necessary as long as the scientific goal is the same. The reduction is techniques that entail using as few animals as possible to achieve a scientific aim. Finally, refinement is techniques adopted to inflict as little pain as possible while at the same time ensuring the animals are comfortable. Another key technique is to ensure the animals are inserted in a program to care for survivors after the research is complete especially chimpanzees through rehabilitation.

Conclusion

In conclusion, animal tests should be completely eliminated as it infringes on animal rights. Research animals go through a lot of pain and suffering despite the fact that there exist other means of testing such as computer simulation algorithms. Humans have no justification for killing animals just for the sake of preserving their own.it is a double standard. Animals should be respected and treated with dignity because after all, humans are also animals.

Works Cited

"Cosmetics Testing Is Ugly". Crueltyfreeinternational.Org, 2018, http://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org. Accessed 30 Nov 2018.

Duncan, I. J., and J. Carol Petherick. "The implications of cognitive processes for animal welfare." Journal of animal science 69.12 (1991): 5017-5022.

Maehle, Andreas-Holger. "Literary responses to animal experimentation in Seventeenth -and eighteenth-century Britain." Medical history. 34.1 (1990): 27-51.

National Research Council. Guide for the care and use of laboratory animals. National Academies Press, 2010.

Russell, William Moy Stratton, Rex Leonard Burch, and Charles Westley Hume. The principles of humane experimental technique. Vol. 238. (1959).