1.0 Introduction
The Greeks believed that animals were a lesser form of life because animals could not think like humans did. Furthermore, this thought was continued by Christians who claimed that animals were less significant because they had no soul (Vivisection, 2002). Animal testing is the use of live animals for research in order to better understand the effect of certain substances towards human health. This application has been widely carried out in many industries. Numerous animals have been used for animal testing, such as guinea pigs, rabbits, dogs and mice.
The issue of animal testing has become a worldwide focus these days due to arguments brought up by those who are against animal experimentation.
Unquestionably, the practice of animal experimentation has increased tremendously compared to the past. According to Shandilya (2008), it is estimated that 20 million animals are used for animal experimentation yearly for the purpose of medicine and for testing other products. Findings from studies indicate that less than 10 percent of pure psychological researches use animals as test subjects, which do not include animal subjects used for cross-over medical experimentation (American Psychological Association, n.
d., cited in Harding, L. , 2001). However, there are some who state that animal experiments are cruel and immoral, besides violating an animal’s rights. This has caused many individuals to agree with the movements of anti-vivisection organisations due to brutal treatment towards animals.
Although there are laws regarding animal testing enforcing the reduction in the use of animals for vivisection, opponents of animal experimenting are still debating about the subject of legalizing it.
If we view this subject from a broader perspective, it can be seen that animal testing should be legalized as it aids scientist in the discoveries of new drugs and treatments to make health and medicine better, an animal’s life does not hold as much value as a human’s, and it is the most precise way to find out the effects of substances on a living organism.
This research paper will explain why animal testing should be legalized. Research findings are confined to the United States of America, since the subject of animal testing is highly debated there and the progress of this issue in the US is relative to other countries.
2.1 Animal testing helps in the development of drugs and treatments.
Currently, humans are often exposed to various diseases which are life threatening, which includes existing diseases or new forms of diseases due to mutations and changes in the environment. Hence, researchers are working hard in finding cures for all these illnesses. From here, it can be seen that animal testing is essential in the sustenance of human health. Animals will be used to study the effect of newly invented drugs, whether it will help in curing the disease.
Speaking of the positive outcomes of animal testing, this includes the development of new medicine and treatments. Derbyshire (2004) mentioned that many medical advances used animal testing; dogs were used to develop the production of insulin, whereas primates were utilized in the manufacture of a powerful anti-rejection drug, cyclosporine. Besides this, discoveries of various vaccines have evolved through animal experimentation. From here, it can be seen that animal testing can guide us to discoveries of new knowledge about living organisms.
Many drugs have been invented to fulfill the aim of remedying diseases. However, the side effects of newly invented drugs remain unknown. Therefore, animal testing allows the evaluation of the danger of drugs before being used upon humans which will greatly reduce the risk before any human based trials are carried out (About Animal Testing, n.d.). Drugs that are tested safe can then be used to save millions of valuable human lives. The future of medical science still relies on animal testing, and this clearly shows a need in legalizing animal testing.
There are some people who claim that the effects of drugs tested on animals may not be the same to humans. Arthritis drug Vioxx, which caused 140 000 heart attacks and strokes in United States of America, was withdrawn from the global market even though it appeared to be safe when tested in animals (Archibald, 2004). However, scientists have proven that animals are extremely alike to humans and experiments done on them would produce similar results obtained through future human experiments (About Animal Testing, n.d.). Hence, carrying out animal testing on drugs would improve the quality of human life indirectly.
Therefore, to sum it all up, animal testing should be legalized because it assists researchers in medical treatments besides drugs discovery, improves health and medicine and is able to test the safety of drugs. Alternatives of animal testing are not as plausible as they are not as accurate as the results obtained from tests conducted upon animals. Hence, animal testing should be encouraged instead of being suppressed.