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Animal Testing Arguments

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Animal testing is a process of using animals in conducting scientific experiments (Christopher 14). The practice is also widely referred to as animal research or animal experimentation. In efforts to understand how the human body reacts and behaves in different conditions, animals are used as an experimental substitute in finding or establishing relevant solutions related to items or substances that humans use on a day to day basis such as cosmetics, household merchandise, food preservatives, industrial chemicals, supplements, and medication (Hackman 92). The tests that involve animals largely take place in medical schools, establishments of military defense, Universities, laboratories and in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Most …show more content…

The supporters of this concept argue that computers can be unreliable in giving accurate results or information on issues related to cells, environment or molecules (Christopher 17). Animal testing has therefore been used to give very reliable and substantial scientific information in the last century. On the other hand, opponents or individuals who challenge the concept of animal experimentation argue that animals, like humans, feel and experience pain and should not be subjected to unnecessary pain and suffering. Furthermore, they posit that animals used for research are often subjected to cruel and traumatizing conditions, therefore, negating fundamental animal rights. Moreover, other arguments indicate that animals should be respected because they have natural rights just like all other beings (Hackman …show more content…

Despite the fact that the scientific world continues to embrace the use of animal testing, many scientists consider this act barbaric and ruthless (Food and Drug Administration 34). They go ahead to argue that the reliability and validity of this method are significantly questionable because to use an animal to predict how a certain product will react to human beings has a lot of uncertainty. In addition to that, some drugs may work excellently in animals and terribly fail in human beings. A good example is Thalidomide in Germany in the 1970s, which had been tested on a number of animals in their thousands and was declared safe for human use and released in the market in 1950s. It was a highly rated sedative for breastfeeding and pregnant mothers because the scientists involved argued that it affects neither the mother nor the child (Hackman 123). Never the less, most children whose mothers had embraced the use of Thalidomide were born with extreme deformation across the world. Another good example on how unreliable animal experiments are is Clioquinol. This drug was declared safe in stopping or controlling diarrhea in 1970s in Japan. Ironically, this drug was a catalyst in causing diarrhea and as a result many people died in thousands and many others remained blind. In addition to the examples above, the medical journal in Britain evaluated a number of scientific reviews concerning the

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