Animal testing is perhaps one of the most controversial and debatable topics that we have today. There are flip sides to the argument of animal testing and each side has vociferous and strong supporters. Animal Testing, in very lucid and simple terms, can be defined as the experimentation carried out on animals to assess or gauge the safety, effectiveness and performance of everything ranging from medication, cosmetics to Food additives and Supplements. Animal testing is also used widely for better understanding of how human body works among the medical lobby. The very mention of the topic is capable of generating heated arguments because of the highly controversial nature of the topic. While the supporters of animal testing find nothing wrong in it, its detractors or the opposing lobby calls it immensely dross, cruel, inhumane, immoral and ethically wrong. The debate has continued for years and it still does, but over the years due to enhanced awareness for animal rights, the voice against animal testing has got louder and clearer.
Though the supporters of animal testing call it an experimentation that is used to benefit humans since it saves lives and helps in improvement and inventions of various medical treatments, there is no denying the fact that animal testing in itself is a wrong practice. It creates pain and suffering among the animals and is cruel since in extreme cases it might lead to death of the animals on which experimentation is performed. To understand why animal testing is so wrong, we need to look at its negative effects and cons. Some of the most prominent and significant cons associated to animal testing are as listed below:
Torture and Suffering: This is perhaps the most vocal of the negative points related to animal testing. The phenomenon of animal testing is a highly painful and torturous one and leads to immense suffering for the animals. Different kinds of animals are tested upon with cosmetics, medicines, additives etc. to check their suitability for human consumption and then are left to live a life of misery. Millions of such animals are either injured or handicapped in the process of animal testing. They are made to suffer in extreme situations ranging from cold, barren cages to extremely hot ones. Some of these experiments make them allergic. They are made to languish in pain and ache with loneliness. Their freedom is simply taken away and they are subjected to terrifying and painful procedures. During the course of such experiments, processes or procedures, they develop disorders ranging from stress, anxiety, and depression to various neurotic behaviors. Hence, animal testing is a wrong business for the extent of suffering and pain the animals have to go through and it should be banned and stopped in all proportions.
Death: This is the cruelest aspect of animal testing. After immense suffering, pain and grieve, in many cases animals succumb to such extreme experimentations and procedures. Many animals have lost their lives to the selfish motives behind animal testing. The lives of animals subjected or exposed to animal testing usually ends with painful deaths. According to PETA (People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals) more than 100 million animals every year suffer and die in cruel chemical, drug, food and cosmetic tests, biology lessons, medical training exercises, and curiosity-driven medical experiments (2010). Most of the animals that undergo animal testing are not even covered under the Animal Welfare Act and hence their suffering and deaths usually go uncounted and unaccounted for. Till date millions of animals have died to animal testing and the trend still continues.
Ethics/ Morality: The process of animal testing is indeed ethically wrong and totally immoral since it violates the right of animals to live. The process is barbaric and leads to suffering for the animals, but what is more disturbing is that all these animals cannot choose to give or refuse consent to be experimented upon. Vivisection or the process of animal testing treats animals with utter disrespect and disgrace. It is argued that animals are often treated as disposable objects during the course of animal testing, something that is highly immoral and unethical. The practice is malicious, corrupt and disreputable since it robs off the animals of their rights and pushes them to a world of captivity, loneliness and suffering and that too without their consent or choice. Animal testing thus not only is immensely painful for animals but is also an immoral practice that should be shunned and done away with as soon as possible.
Inaccuracy: This is the most scientific and logical assertion against the practice of animal testing. It has been proved through various studies and researches that animals and humans are not biologically identical, as is often presumed and supposed. Though some substances might test positive on animals, they could have immense negative effects on human beings, thus making the practice of animal testing highly unreliable, Inaccurate and Unsafe. Differences between animals and humans have not only lead to delayed medical discoveries but have also lead to invention of totally inappropriate medicines in many cases. Testing on monkeys led researchers to conclude that polio was spread as a respiratory disease rather than through a digestive route, leading to ineffectual preventive measures and a delay in vaccination development (Miley 2009). Using animals for development of vaccines for HIV is another relevant example in this case. Though it has taken lives of millions of animals over the last two decades, use of animals for HIV related vaccines has proved futile.
Economically Unviable: Animal testing is indeed a very costly and pricey affair. It is believed and known that the cost of keeping and disposing the animals is very high. A huge amount of money is spent on feeding, housing of such animals. Moreover, the experimentations or their treatment of drugs is also very costly. On top of that, animal testing is conducted over and over again and this leads to high costs. The cost of animals when factored and combined with all these costs pushes the overall price of animal testing to a very high level, thus making is economically unviable.
The reasons above clearly indicate and corroborate the claims of the people who are against animal testing. It is not only wrong as an immoral and unethical practice, but is also inaccurate and misleading. The points provide with reasons galore to stop and shun animal testing and vividly explain why more and more organizations and individuals are speaking against the practice. Though the awareness level has increased over the years, there is still a lot to be done and achieved.
Different and varied types of animals are used for animal testing. Primarily, rats, mice, birds and cold-blooded mammals are used for the purpose of animal testing. Because of very close similarities to human biological system, rats and mice are used the most. According to a latest estimate, around 90-95% of mammals used for biomedical research is rats and mice. This clearly shows the exploitation and suffering that these two breeds have met due to uncontrolled and rampant use in animal testing. Rats and Mice are not only used for testing medicines and cosmetics, but also are used to study human biological system by the science lobby. This has led to their killing on a rather large scale. Other mammals that are commonly found and used in research are guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, and farm animals such as pigs and sheep (AnimalResearch 2012). The species are chosen based upon the subject of biological study. Off late species such as zebrafish, fruit flies, and worms have been used to study about gene related functions. Other species such as dogs, cats and monkeys constitute a meager 1% of all the mammals used in research and are primarily used to study heart diseases and neurological disorders.
Different body parts of animals are used for animal testing and research based on the requirements and needs of the study to be done. While some researches require animal skins and body, others need injection of fluids or medicines in the body of the animals thus affecting their vital and important organs. Heart and Kidneys are primarily the two most prominent and significant animal body parts which are used for animal testing. Cartilages and nerves inside the body also used to study and test various products and their respective effects. Other than this eyes, nose and ears also the three sensory organs, which are exposed while testing food additives, medicines and cosmetics.
These animals, that are exposed to animal testing, have to bear terrifying and in most cases unbearable pain. They have to suffer extensively due to studies performed on them and which might prove harmful to their body parts. Many of the animals are made to experience this pain sans any drugs or painkillers, thus making it even worse. Countless monkeys, dogs, rats and other animals are burned, blinded, cut open, poisoned, starved and drugged behind closed laboratory doors every year for convenience, for economic reasons and because of old habits (PETAINDIA 2011). While most of the animals develop various disorders due to incessant and uncontrollable pain, many succumb to it.
If not animal testing, then what? This is perhaps the most common and frequent question that the supporters of animal testing use to defend it and themselves. Latest research and advancements in science and technology have enabled many suitable and appropriate alternatives to animal testing, which not only are safe but more effective and economical too. According to the latest estimates about 50 alternative methods and techniques have been developed for testing and researching. These methods are not only more effective but much more humane too. Some of the most common and prevalent of these strategies are as listed below:
- Human blood has increasingly become an important and popular medium of conducting tests. It is primarily used for testing the presence of fever-causing contaminants in intravenous medicines or the pyrogen tests. This method can save millions of rabbits who are traditionally used for such tests.
- EpiSkin, EpiDerm and SkinEthic- each composed and constituted of artificial human skin- can save thousands of rabbits each year from painful skin corrosion and irritation tests (huamnesociety 2013).
- The Bovine Corneal Opacity and Permeability tests use eyes of animals killed or slaughtered for the meat industry to detect and check the chemicals and products that are irritating to eyes. This saves lives of many rats and mice, which are subjected to this irritation and pain otherwise.
- Innovative and advance biotechnological invention of 3-D in vitro human “liver” can and is being increasingly used to study the consumption of chemicals in human body. This technology or innovation effectively and efficiently mimics human organs can be used to test cosmetics, drugs and other chemicals.
There are several other methods that have emerged as effective alternatives to animal testing and the things have indeed started changing with more and more countries banning and prohibiting animal testing and many organizations and firms giving up the practices and taking up the alternatives.
Therefore it can be safely concluded that the negative aspects of animal testing far outweigh its positive effects, if any. It is a cruel, immoral, unethical and unreliable process/ procedure that has claimed lives of millions of animals across the globe. With several of its alternatives now available, this practice should be thoroughly shunned and wiped out to enable a just, pain and suffering free world for the animals who have long been exploited through the process in the name of welfare of human beings. It’s time we realized that animals are as valuable as we are and their lives are as precious as ours are.
Works Cited
PETA. ” More Info On Animals Used for Experimentation”
People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals. 7 May 2013. Web. 2010
< http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/default2.aspx >
Miley, Michelle. ” Cons against Animal Testing”
eHow. 7 May 2013. Web. 2009
< http://www.ehow.com/list_7289094_cons-against-animal-testing.html>
AnimalReasearch. ” What types of animals are needed for medical research?”
Animal Research. 7 May 2013. Web. 2012
< http://www.animalresearchcures.org/typesneeded.htm>
PETAINDIA. ” Animals Used for Experimentation”
People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals. 7 May 2013. Web. 2011
< http://www.petaindia.com/issues/animals-experimentation/default.aspx >
humanesociety. ” Alternatives to Animal tests”
The Humane Society of the United States. 7 May 2013. Web. 2013
