Animal Testing

Should animal testing be banned?
Introduction
In this case study, I will try to answer the question – Should animals testing be banned? I have chosen this topic because animal testing had always been interesting for me.
This encouraged me to go forward with this. I will be presenting different views concerning animal testing.
Animal testing refers to the experimentation carried out on animals. It is normally carried out in order to test a new medicine, whether it is functioning properly and that the side effects are not harmful. Somehow it is a way of detection.
Animal testing is normally performed in universities, medical schools and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Universities are often at the forefront of research that uses animal testing. Students led by experienced scientists use animals to better understand how the human body works as well.
Nowadays, animal testing is a subject that often occurs. Some people think it is needed in research, meanwhile others think it is not allowed to sacrifice animals for sciences because they are treated badly during their lifetime.
The biggest disadvantage of animal testing is the harm, pain and confinement of the animal. Animals used for testing are not humans and any results derived from animal testing may or may not be useful to humans.

Some Common Animals Used For Animal Testing Are;
1. Rats
2. Rabbits
3. Primates
4. Cats
5. Dogs

These animals are locked inside cold, barren cages in laboratories across the country. They suffer from pain, ache and loneliness, and long to roam free and use their minds. Instead, all they can do is sit and wait in fear of the next terrifying and painful procedures that will be performed on them.

Arguments against Animal Testing.

Animal experiments can be misleading. An animal’s response to a drug can be different to a human’s.

Successful alternatives include test tube studies on human tissue cultures, statistics and computer models.

The stress that animals endure in labs can affect experiments making the result meaningless.

Animals are still used to test items like cleaning products which benefit mankind less than medicines or surgery.

Animals have as much right to live as human beings.

Strict controls have not prevented researchers from abusing animals-although such instances are rare.

Deaths through research are absolutely unnecessary and are morally not different from murder.

There is no firm evidence that animal testing has saved anyone’s life directly, particularly in the case of HIV – most drugs could probably have been developed without the use of animals.

It is no more ethical to give an animal a life-threatening illness than it is to give one to a human

Arguments for Animal Testing

Animal testing has helped to develop vaccines against diseases like rabies, polio, measles, mumps, rubella and TB.

Antibiotics, HIV drugs, insulin and cancer treatment rely on animal tests. Other testing methods are not advanced yet.

Scientists claim there are no differences in lab animals and human that cannot be converted into tests
.

Operations on animals helped to develop organ transplant and open-heart surgery techniques.

Human life has greater value than animal life.

Legislation protects all lab animals from cruelty or mistreatment
.

Millions of animals are killed for food every day- if anything; medical research is more worthy death.

Not testing new pharmaceutical products on animals is highly dangerous.

It is a legal requirement that drugs are tested on animals for safety in the majority of countries. Scientists have no choice in this matter.