One of the most talked about subjects is if animals should be used for medical research. Fact is “each year, more than 100 million animals—including mice, rats, frogs, dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, monkeys, fish, and birds—are killed in U.S. laboratories for biology lessons, medical training, curiosity-driven experimentation, and chemical, drug, food, and cosmetics testing” according to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). According to ProCon.org, “95% of animals used in experiments are not protected by the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA), which excludes birds, rats and mice bred for research, and cold-blooded animals such as reptiles and most fish.”
Animal lovers all over the world would agree that this kind of testing is unfair and practically abuse. It is actually proven that testing animals is not improving human health at all! So many ask why test animals? The answer is reasonable. Scientists would much rather test an animal than a human. On the other hand most people also question why are scientists testing animals when the development of some animals are far from the development of a human. This is dangerous for many reasons. If a study works well for a rabbit or mouse, it does not mean the same results will show on a human. So in the end the test is technically taken by a human, regardless the result of the animal. This shows why it is almost pointless to use animals for research.
Another debate discusses whether we should test medicine on animals for certain diseases. A major disease scientists test medicines on animals for is cancer. The National Cancer Institute Director Dr. Richard Klausner said, “We have cured mice of cancer for decades, and it simply didn’t working in humans.” In this case why debate whether humans should stop testing animals? The answer here is clear.
Another fact to refute animal testing is that “at least 85 HIV/AIDS vaccines have been successful in nonhuman primate studies, as of 2015, everyone has failed to protect humans” according to PETA. Is it wrong to infect countless of harmless animals with potentially incurable diseases just for the benefit of humans? Many question how this issue can be resolved.
Considering it was shown that it was ineffective and wasteful to experiment on animals multiple times, how else are we supposed to test products before releasing them to the public? Scientists have come to the conclusion that to stop experimenting on animals, they must research on human volunteers, computational methods, and in vitro studies based on human cells and tissues. Studies show that these methods have more precise, and effective results, than cruel and disturbing research on animals. When you realize that the United States and Gabon are the only two countries in the world to experiment on chimps, it makes you think why aren’t all those other countries doing it. Those countries know it is wrong even though the humans share 99% of their DNA with a chimpanzee.
If you are against animal cruelty, and the experimentation on animals you are able to help. According to PETA, all animal experimentation is federally funded. On the other hand they are made with citizens tax dollars. You can simply write a letter stating you feel animal experimentation is unethical and you don’t want your tax dollars to support it. You can also mention other ways to replace animal experimentation.
