There are many controversial topics argued in the today’s world. People will always have different opinions on different views of widely discussed issues in the United States. The views of animal testing are one of the many widely controversial opinions that people debate about. Scientists have been using animals for testing since 500 BC (Background…). About 26 million animals in the United States are used every year. Some animals are used for scientific testing and others are used for commercial testing. Most animals endure much pain and torture when they are used for testing. Even though some of the animals are used for medical research purposes, most of the animals are used to test different cosmetic products. Only a few of the animals survive testing, and those who do survive are often left with burns or other scars from the product (Background…). Scientists should not use innocent animals for testing.
The first reason that scientists should not be allowed to test products on animals is because many of the animals are badly injured, tortured, or killed throughout the process. According to the Humane Society International, the term animal testing refers to procedures performed on living animals for the purposes of research. There are many different animals used in testing each day. Every animal used is tortured throughout the process. The different procedures performed on the animals include: forced chemical exposure in toxicity testing, force-feeding, forced inhalation, skin or injection into the abdomen, muscle, and exposure to drugs, chemicals or infectious disease at levels that cause illness, pain and distress, or death (About…). Some scientists will even inflict pain upon an animal to study the healing process. Every procedure has the potential to cause the animals physical and physiological discomfort and distress. Even the procedures that are considered “mild” can have great risk of harming the animals (About…). The procedures can also cause animals to suffer throughout the process and most of the animals are eventually killed after each test. If they are not killed then they will be reused for another test. The way scientists test animals is in humane and cruel.
Scientists tests all different kinds of products, chemicals, and medications on animals to see how they will react to it. The different kinds of products and drugs that are tested on animals are usually every day household products and cosmetics. For example, Windex is tested on animals to see how they will react and to make sure it is safe for humans. Scientists will spray it in their eyes and on their skin to see if it will cause irritation. They will also test the effects of them ingesting the products (8 Products…). Some other household products that are first tested on animals include Band-Aids, Kleenex, and Vaseline. Many different cosmetics and make-ups are tested on animals as well (8 Products…). Many medications and drugs are always tested first on animals as well. They test all of these products first on animals to see if it will have the same reaction on humans. The different kinds of animals that scientists use include many different species. They range from dogs to mice. Some other animals are cats, monkeys, rabbits, rats, birds and fish. However, rats, mice, birds, fish, and some other animals are not classified as animals under animal experiments regulations. This means that scientists do not need any legal permission to experiment on them (What is…). About 95 percent of animals used for experiments are not protected by the Animal Welfare Act (Animal Testing). The Animal Welfare Act, or also known as AWA requires facilities using animals for research review and approve proposals for animal use. It also ensures that alternatives are used whenever appropriate (Alternative…). Even though this act is followed by all researchers, many of the animals are not included in it so therefore the laws and rules do not apply to them.
Another reason that scientists should not use animals for testing is because humans and animals are very different. The whole purpose of animals testing is to test products on animals in hope to someday use the products on humans. The genetic and anatomic make up of humans and animals are not the same. These are only a few of the several other animals that scientists use. Some drugs that are not harmful for animals, could be very dangerous for humans. For example, Asprin is dangerous for some animals, but is not harmful for humans. This proves that the side effects of different medication and drugs can effect humans and animals differently. Also, 94 percent of drugs that are passed by animals, fail in human clinical trials. According to neurologist Aysha Akhtar, over 100 stroke drugs that were effective when tested on animals have failed in humans, and over 85 HIV vaccines failed in humans after working well in other animals (Animal Testing). Different drugs that pass animal tests are not always safe. There are many prime examples where humans were affected by this. According to the article “Animal Testing”, in 1950 the drug thalidomide that was tested on animals, caused 10,000 babies to be born with deformities. This drug was later tested on other animals like mice and rats, and there were no birth defects unless the dug was given to them in extremely high dosages. Another drug that was tested on animals called Vioxx cause 27,000 heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths (Animal Testing). This proves that the drugs that are tested on animals will not always be accurate and work affectively on humans. Another reason that testing products on animals is not accurate is because when animals are not in their natural habitat, they react differently to the different medications and drugs because of the stress they are under (About…). Also, about nine out of every ten medicines tested in animal laboratories and appear to be safe and effective, fail when they are given to humans (About…). Many people believe animal testing is unreliable because of the reaction to a drug in an animals body can be very different than a human body.
The cost of animal testing can be very expensive. Compared to other testing done by scientists, using animals to test products on is the most expensive. This is because the many different animals that are used throughout the process. There are about 115 million animals used world wide for testing and each one of those animals has to have a place to stay, food to eat, they need to be cared for, and treated for drugs (Murnaghan). On top of all of that, many of the experiments happen over a course of several months, and often more times than once (About…). The Humane Society International compared animal testing and in vitro test and found that animal testing was by far more expensive. Synthetic livers were invented by the biotechnology company Empiriko, and they used these livers to study the reaction of drugs and medications. They were able to predict the livers metabolic reactions to the drugs. This process was quicker, cheaper and had more accurate results than it would have if they had used animals. In one of the trials, it provided so much information that if scientists would have used animals, it would have required them to use 1,000 rats and 100 dogs. According to Senator Jeff Flake, “7.3 million dollars of taxpayers money was wasted on studies involving animals in 2016” (Animal Testing). Also, people for the Ethical Treatment of Animals found that 56.4 million dollars of government funds spent on animal testing failed to provide any useful information (Animal Testing). All of these tests may provide scientists with results they were hoping for, but they can never be sure. Also, each test can be very complicated and require much time and many different resources. As a result, animals testing can become very costly and high-priced.
To predict how a drug, medication, or other chemicals will react to humans, scientists have always used animals. However, scientists should not use animals for testing because there are other alternative testing methods available to them. There used to not be very many other procedures available to scientists, but since the growth of technology there are more accessible ways for them to use. All of the new testing methods are safer, more effective, and less expensive than animal testing. Some different methods include vitro testing and microdosing. Vitro Testing is studying human cell cultures. This alternative method can provide scientists with better and more accurate results because of the use of actual human cells instead of animals. Microdosing is “the administering of doses too small to cause adverse reactions, can be used in human volunteers, whose blood is then analyzed“ (Animal Testing). This experiment is a great way to test medications and drugs on humans without having their whole body react to them and causing severe reactions. Some other alternative methods to use instead of animal testing are, computer models, simulations, MRIs and CT scans, stem cell and genetic testing, and virtual drug trials (Animals in Science). All of these different tests are able to be tested on humans first and get the same results without the animals being tortured and killed throughout the process. The different tests and experiments are more reliable than using animals.
In conclusion, the way scientists and researchers use animals to test products and medications on is very cruel and they should not be allowed to do it. There are many different reasons that they should not do it because the animals go through so much suffering and discomfort throughout the process. Even though some people might disagree with this because they might believe that the animals need to be used in order to test medical treatments and drugs. However, that is not the case because of other methods available. Animal testing is one of the many topics argued about still to this day. In the world today, there are many different topics that people will never agree on. Many people will always have controversial opinions on different subjects in the United States.
Works Cited
“8 Products You Own That Are Tested on Animals.” Business Insurance Quotes Compare Providers for Free RSS, 2012, www.businessinsurance.org/8-products-you-own-that-are-tested-on-animals/.
“About Animal Testing.” Humane Society International, 2018, www.hsi.org/campaigns/ end_animal_testing/qa/about.html.
“Alternatives to Animal Testing.” National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/science/ sya-iccvam/index.cfm.
“Animals in Science / Alternatives.” Harm and Suffering, New England Anti-Vivisection Society, 2018, www.neavs.org/alternatives/in-testing.
“Animal Testing – ProCon.org.” Should Animals Be Used for Scientific or Commercial Testing?, 2 Nov. 2017, animal-testing.procon.org/.
“Background of the Issue – Animal Testing – ProCon.org.” Should Animals Be Used for Scientific or Commercial Testing?, 24 May 2016, animal-testing.procon.org/view.resource.php? resourceID=006512.
Murnaghan, Ian. “Using Animals for Testing: Pros Versus Cons.” Animal Testing on Cosmetics, About Animal Testing, 9 Dec. 2018, www.aboutanimaltesting.co.uk/using-animals- testing-pros-versus-cons.html.
“What Is Animal Testing?” Cruelty Free International, www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/why- we-do-it/what-animal-testing.