The Controversy of Testing on Animals
Facilities that use animals for teaching, experimentations, surgery or testing purposes are known as research facilities. Currently, there are twelve animal research facilities in the state of Alabama ("General Information on Animal Research"). There are many different reasons why animals are used for research. Animals are used to test the products used in cosmetics, for biomedical research, for military defense and food production. Many people including the general public, scientists and government officials do not necessarily agree to the terms and conditions to which these animals are used for testing
The optimistic viewpoints for animal testing are that it assists researchers in finding
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This is an upsetting topic but everyone should be aware of animals being used when purchasing a product. Some products say – no animal testing involved in its development. Product testing is commonly performed on animals in order to measure the effects of the substances used in the making of cosmetics. In performing these tests, substances are placed in the eyes of conscious rabbits to assess damage to sensitive eye tissues. This is very painful for the rabbits, who often scream when the substances are applied and sometimes break their necks or backs trying to escape the restraints. Another unethical side of animal research is that once a study is complete and depending on the species and type of research that the animal was used for, the animal may be euthanized. Numerous animals are used in research, experimented on and then killed. Some of the animals are permanently injured and will continue to live the remainder of their life in captivity. Many of these animals were given tests for substances that will never seek approval for public consumption or use.
Another adverse affect of animals being used for testing and research purposes is that the experiments are very expensive because the animals must be fed, given shelter, and properly cared for. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) enforces the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) to protect certain animals from inhumane treatment and neglect ("United States
“Every year in the U.S., over 25 million animals are used in biomedical experimentation, product and cosmetic testing, and science education...” (neavs.org)
The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) requires research facilities to have a certified veterinarian,”…who shall provide adequate veterinary care.” The AWA also requires animals used in research to be presented with appropriate housing, feeding, handling, sanitation, ventilation, and sheltering. The regulations are promptly guarded by The Institutional Care and Use Committee. The Institutional Care and Use Committee must ensure the appropriate handling and treatment of laboratory animals by reviewing and inspecting every research study. If a research study is viewed as potentially harmful to animals without reason then the Committee will close the study. The safety of test animals are protected and monitored by federal agencies. The notion of animals being brutally kept in hostile conditions can easily be swept away by the actions and protocols enacted by the U.S. government. These actions and protocols are meant to ensure the humane treatment of test animals.
Every year, 26 million animals are used in the United States for scientific and commercial testing (ProCon.org). The purpose of animal testing is to develop medical treatments, determine the toxicity of medication, check safety of products, and other biomedical, commercial, and health care uses. People have been experimenting with animals since at least 500 BC. Animal testing is regulated by the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), which was passed in 1966 and amended in 1970, 1976, and 1985. The AWA excludes birds, rats, and mice bred for research, cold-blooded animals, and farm animals used for food and other purposes (animalresearch.thehastingscenter.org). Animal testing is a controversial subject that looks whether or not
Animals suffer just as people do. In 2009 animal experimentation was the cause of over 1.13 million animals, excluding small rodents, suffering in U.S. Laboratories (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service). Animal experimentation is unethical, unnecessary and expensive; alternative methods of testing should be utilized.
be used as they could interfere with the testing, so animals may have to undergo
Imagine a life locked away in a cage with no form of control on your existence. It’s cold, dark, and you are scared. You don’t have a choice of what you eat, where you live, or how you are treated. You are unsure if it is day or night or what will happen to you next. You are locked away in a prison cell and you committed no crime. This is the life of a laboratory animal. Animal testing is the use of animals for scientific research purposes and experiments. It can be used for the findings of cures and medicines to testing new drugs, to understanding the behavioral psychology of the animals themselves. “Around fifty to one hundred million vertebrate animals, ranging from fish to primates, are used in experiments each year” (Lloyd). There are
According to Animal Testing- ProCon, since 1966, research animals have been protected by the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). They provide minimum housing standards like enclosures, temperature, clean water and food, and more. Inspections by veterinarians are required by the Animal Welfare Act to maintain animal health (Animal Testing-ProCon, 2017). Animal Testing-ProCon also says that to use animals for research, it has to be approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Who enforce humane treatment for the research animals (Animal Testing-ProCon,
In an article by R.G. Frey he claims, “If animals are not members of the moral community, then it is acceptable, using them in invasive research and inflicting pain and suffering upon them, is of little moral concern. If the lives of animals have no value, then the destruction of those lives in the course of research cannot be of great moment.” He also stated that animals are property, so therefore, humans can do whatever they please to them.
Since the beginning of researching animals, there have been many different opinions on the subject. Many people argue that animal testing is inhumane and unfair to the animals. However, animals are a very important factor in health advances and are necessary for furthering the knowledge of humans. There are laws and organizations such as the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that strive to protect animals from any type of harm during their laboratory lives. Though there are many pros and cons of animal research, tests ran on animals are only for the benefit of humans. Some of the experiments may seem cruel, but there are new technologies forming which will help reduce the amount of animals used in research.
The AWA defines an animal as any live or dead dog, cat, monkey, guinea pig, hamster, rabbit, or such other warm blooded animal. The AWA excludes cold blooded animals and farm animals. They require each research facility to develop an internal institutional animal committee to represent society’s concerns regarding the well being of the animal subjects. One member has to be a veterinarian and one unaffiliated with the institution. The AWA regulates the housing and transportation of animals used for research, it does not regulate the experiments
Animal testing is not only beneficial to human but also animals, at least to those who are not used in the experiments, such as pets and endangered species. Along with researching for new treatments and medicines for
Animal research is regulated by the Animal Welfare Act(AWA). The Animal Welfare Act protects animals against mistreatment during experimentation and living in labs. The act protects against mistreatment of animals by enforcing the following rules: minimum housing standards for research animals (enclosure size, temperature, access to clean food and water, and others), all proposals to use animals for research must be approved by an institutional animal care and use committee set up by
We should stop the use of animals for research and testing purposes. Animal research/testing refers to the use of non-human animals for testing or experimenting on. The use of animals for testing is used in the fields of: Biomedical research, security, evaluation, and education of a product. Every year animals are subject to experiments so painful and damaging that no one would ever do them on humans. Deciding whether or not to do animal testing is a tough choice which no one should have to make. We feel that animal testing is harmful, cruel, and unnecessary. We should look at how animals are treated in research and we should work to minimize or eliminate the number of animals who have to suffer through this procedure. Most research stated about 90% of research conducted on animals is performed on mice and rats. It is estimated that 50% of animals tested on annually are killed. This is supposed to be done to make the product safer for the humans and they are simply killing these animals. Researchers estimate animals used in research at well over 100 million. However, no one knows how many animals are used in the United States today because Animal Welfare Act, the legislation requiring the counting of animals in laboratories, excludes mice and rats; indisputably they are the most used animals in the industry. A staggering 100 million mice are estimated to be used in U.S. laboratories alone. Guinea pigs, mice, rats, rabbits, fish, and
Each year 20 million animals are produce and breed for the only purpose but to be tested on. Fifty-three thousands of animals are used each year in medical and veterinary schools. The rest is used in basic research. The demand for animals in the United States
Animals should be used for research and Experimentation because if the animals get sick or show any signs of acting abnormal then the scientists know it isn’t safe for humans to use. Animal research has played a big role in nearly every medical breakthrough over the last decade. Animals have the same organ system that perform the same task, which helps determine if what is being tested is safe for humans to use. Most of the medicines animals use the same medicine as humans like antibiotics, pain killers, and many more this helps to see if the medicine cures the animals without any harmful consequences then it would be safe and useful for humans to use.