Against Animal Testing: Unmasking the Ethical and Scientific Flaws

While walking down the aisle at the supermarket, do you ever stop to think about how these enjoyable products were made? Do you check to see if the things in your cart are marked as cruelty-free? The majority of people around the world use products that range from things such as makeup, medicine, and many other types of medical procedures. A common method used to manufacture these products is animal testing. Animal testing consists of a variety of harmful and unethical tests and procedures performed on animals using the substance scientists are trying to learn about.

There are various reasons why animal testing should be banned and why alternative methods should take place. Animal testing is not only unethical, but it also doesn’t provide accurate results due to the biological differences between humans and animals, and it’s also illogical to continue with this method when much better substitutes have evolved.

The Ethical Dilemma: Unjustifiable Suffering

“No animal should suffer and die in the name of beauty.” A famous quote from the moving and award-winning youtube video on the experience of animal testing by The Humane Society. It’s easy to assume that any person with respectable morals would argue that letting animals suffer for any reason is unjustifiable. Furthermore, purposely taking healthy, fluffy, sweet little animals and subjecting them to harsh, dangerous, and painful experimental procedures, chemicals, sufferable living conditions, and more is undoubtedly immoral and unethical beyond any point of reason. An article published by the Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal states, ‘In clinical testing laboratories, animals are isolated from their groups and used as a tool.” A tool?!! It’s important to acknowledge that animal testing is not just about animals taking vitamins or getting makeup put on them.

Animal testing consists of painful and graphic procedures. They get cut into, harmful injections of things like chemicals and bacteria, and many other foul and spine-shivering actions take place in these labs. The actions being taken on these animals are those that could be seen in a horror movie. These poor creatures are subjected to harsh de-animalization. They are forced to forfeit their tissues, organs, and at times, their whole body! And on top of that, if the experiments themselves don’t kill them, they are often euthanized after such experiments to “avoid later pain and distress.” Anything that is given the breath of life should not be treated as less than. Animals are not given a voice or rights as humans are; therefore, it is crucial for humans to advocate for the termination of these experiments. Animals are not lab equipment.

The Search for Alternatives: More Reliable and Humane Methods

Although many people may argue that animal testing is mandatory to ensure the safety of humans and that there are no better alternatives, this is logically inaccurate. With years of scientists dedicating time to this very topic, many more reliable methods have been developed. Such as in vitro models, which are experiments performed outside of the animal’s body using cells, cell cultures which are the growth of plants, animals, or human cells (outside the body) that can be used for tests and diagnosis, computer models, which would demonstrate simulations of a test, as well as other artificial intelligence analyzing techniques. Not only are these methods pet friendly, but there are also numerous advantages associated with these techniques, such as “time efficiency, requires less manpower, and cost-effectiveness,” according to the Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal. So, not only do these methods debunk the thought that there are no good alternative methods, but it also discredits the argument that animal testing is a necessity altogether.

Scientific Accuracy and Public Health Implications

Throughout history, animal testing has been used to discover medicines that would benefit our society and has been used for years. However, many studies prove there are more adequate ways to do research than this testing method. In an article released by the animal rights group PETA, “More than 90 percent of basic scientific discoveries, most of which are from experiments on animals, fail to lead to human treatments”. There have been numerous experiments done on these animals that have ended up being inaccurate in the end. Scientists do not always have reliable data regarding the trauma they put the animals through. There are some ways in which each species differs from the others. It should be noted that although people and monkeys share some of the same biological characteristics, they are still entirely different species. Regardless of the experiment they perform, the animals’ reactions will most likely differ. This proves we can no longer rely on old unreliable habits. Technology has evolved so much, and our methods should advance with it.

Another perfectly prime example of the drawbacks of animal testing is presented in an article by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The source states that animal tests “often fail to provide good ways to mimic disease or predict how drugs will work in humans.” Using animals as test subjects is not a good indicator of drug response in humans or any other species except that being exploited. For example, human antibiotics to penicillin kills guinea pigs, the depressant morphine stimulates goats, cats, and horses, and aspirin causes birth defects in rats, mice, guinea pigs, dogs, and monkeys. (11 Animal Testing Statistics the Will Blow Your Mind PETA) As a result, approximately 100 million animals are killed yearly without any good reason for their death.

Contributing to Disease Outbreaks

Another major negative impact animal testing has on the global community is that it plays a significant role in infectious diseases and other outbreaks worldwide. Although such outbreaks taking place with animals in captivity aren’t as concerning because they can be managed “through quarantining, vaccination, or culling” (which is selectively removing the sick animals). (Benisek) This further demonstrates the importance of proper animal care and how a lack of such can lead to serious public health concerns. There have been numerous breakthroughs in research regarding the connection between animal research and outbreaks of epidemics or even pandemics, where most cases originated from animals. Long before the concept of ‘disease-causing organisms’ (Brockhurst and Villano), animals were used to study infectious diseases. E Coli and Mad Cow Disease are two of the most common infections in factory farms caused by how animals are treated. Without proper procedures and inadequate standards of hygiene, the meat becomes contaminated. Humans can then consume it, which can lead to many serious illnesses or even deaths.

Work Cited

1. Brockhurst, I. M., & Villano, J. S. (2005). Emerging approaches to managing livestock-related infectious disease. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 20(1), 17-21.
2. PETA. (n.d.). 11 Animal Testing Statistics That Will Blow Your Mind.
3. Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal. (n.d.). Why animal testing should be banned: A Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal perspective.
4. The Humane Society of the United States. (n.d.). “No Animal Should Suffer and Die in the Name of Beauty” [YouTube video].

Did you like this example?

263

14