Animal testing is one of much debated issues in modern times. Millions of animals are used every year for the purpose of animal testing across the world. Animals go through a process that causes enormous pain and sufferings during animal testing. A number of issues are related to animal testing and one of them is the extinction of animals. A number of animals are on the verge of extinction and this issue has been raised by various animal lovers and animal rights organizations. This paper presents a succinct analysis of the animal testing along with discussing how animal testing can cause animal extinction.
There is a difference of opinion among people on this issue. Some say that animal testing causes animal extinction while others say that animal testing is necessary in order to make human lives better. The fact of the matter is that animals pass through pain while they undergo various types of animal testing. Millions of cats, dogs, rats, monkeys, chimpanzees and various other animals are used in animal testing usually they die in theses testing. Such dangerous and rampant human intervention in the natural habitat of animals may cause extinction of various animal species.
Animals are affected either directly or indirectly by the animal testing. Cats, rats, dogs and monkeys are in abundance on this earth, and whether they are directly affected by the animal testing or not but they are certainly affected indirectly. Each and every living creature is affected by such mass murdering of animals because they are part of the biodiversity. If one biological species is extinct from this planet, other components of this diversity will be directly affected by such development (Watson).
Animal behavior is difficult to understand. It has been observed in various cases that if one animal is separated from his friend or family, both feel loneliness and even they may die. Only direct killing is not responsible for animal extinction but there are certain related repercussions and none of them can be avoided while discussing the issue of animal testing and its repercussions on animals. Animal behavior in different conditions can mislead scientists and they may not get appropriate reactions or results in animal testing.
It has been observed and proved scientifically that when one species faces extinction, another is directly affected as they are part of the same food cycle. One carnivorous species is depended on another species and when is vanished another die because of lack of food. It is easily imaginable that if rats are extinct, it would adversely affect cats and snakes. They will be forced to change their food habits and such change in the ecosystem may create danger for them. The same formula of existence applies on other species whether they are on earth, water or in the sky. Dr. Frank Veen says, “Our experiment provides the first proof of something that biologists have argued for a long time: predators can have indirect effects on each other, to the extend that when one species is lost, the loss of these indirect effects can lead to further extinctions. Although our study focused on insects, the principle would be the same for predators in any ecosystem, ranging from big cats on the African plains to fish in our seas” (Veen).
Many species of animals are endangered and this endangering exists at different levels. Some animals are immediately in danger while others are in the queue and if attempts are not made to save them, they are the next. The situation becomes very sober when chimpanzees are used for animal testing. Chimpanzees are also one of species that need protection yet they are used for testing purposes. There are certain areas where chimpanzees are not found anymore and they are vanished from specific areas (Olson & Varki).
Chimpanzees have been used for medical testing since decades. The main reason of using chimpanzees for the purpose of medical testing is that chimpanzees have similar DNA like human beings. Chimpanzees can sustain various diseases that humans sustain including all kinds of Hepatitis and HIV. Medical experiments on chimpanzees generate authentic results on various health related issues including heart transplant, skull impact, alcoholism and oral contraceptives. Chimpanzees are like human beings in terms of social behavior and they react in the same way in similar circumstances.
United States of America is still uses chimpanzees for various medical testing. Hundreds of chimpanzees are kept captivated in US research centers. These all chimpanzees were caught from the forests of Africa and were brought in the US for the purpose of medical testing and research. Since chimpanzees are different from other animals and they are closest to human beings, they yield accurate results. Other nations have banned using chimpanzees in their medical and other research programs because of their proximity to the human beings and other ethical grounds (Mitani et al.).
The irony is that no law prevents companies, government or individuals from animal testing or doing other types of research on animals. Animals are burnt, overfeed, not feed, captivated for months, poisoned and decapitated during animal testing. Another aspect of this issue is more shocking. The effect of animal testing is not hundred percent accurate and in some case these findings have been proved to be false. Now if there is not absolute accuracy and animals are killed for mere testing, this is highly objectionable (Hayhurst).
Some people say that animals should be used for medical testing and even if they die during testing, it is justified because this is done for the interest of human beings. These people forget while saying so that animals have equal rights to exist on this planet and they should not be killed by humans for their interests. Animals should not be killed because they do not have the ability to speak their minds. They are a part of the same biodiversity and if any species of animal extinct, humans or this planet cannot remain unaffected for a longer time. The nature has designed every creature with certain purpose and when human beings or other creatures interfere in that design, they face the consequences.
Having observed an overview and succinct analysis of the abovementioned subject, the paper concludes that animal testing adversely affects the natural habitat of animals. Animal testing and massive use of animals in such animal testing can damage the biodiversity and it affects the biodiversity either directly or indirectly. When the life cycle is breached, the whole biodiversity is bound to suffer. Various other optional methods of testing and research are available and they should be tried instead of killing animals and make them extinct forever from this planet.
References
Hayhurst, Chris. Animal Testing: The Animal Rights Debate. New York, NY: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2000.
Mitani, JC, Hasegawa, T, Gros-Louis, J, Marler, P, & Byrne, R. "Dialects in wild chimpanzees?" American Journal of Primatology, 27(4) (1992): 233-243.
Olson, MV & Varki, A. "Sequencing the chimpanzee genome: insights into human evolution and disease." Nature Reviews Genetics, 4 (2003): 20-28.
Veen, Frank van. "Study proves that one extinction leads to another." 15 August 2012. University of Exeter. Online. 27 October 2014.
Watson, Stephanie. Animal Testing: Issues and Ethics. New York, NY: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2009.
