Animal Testing (2)

        We humans are not like animals; we are animals.  Psychologists study animals to learn about people, by doing experiments that are permissible only with animals. Animal research has played a vital role in virtually every major medical advance of the last century - for both human and veterinary health. Animal experiments have therefore led to treatments for human diseases, like insulin for diabetes, transplants to replace defective organs, and vaccines to prevent polio and rabies.  Pain and suffering is based on knowledge attained through research with lab animals.

         Certainly, many animals die each year due to scientific studies. Each year in the United States, an estimated thirty million animals are hurt and killed in the name of science by private institutions, household products and cosmetics companies, government agencies, educational institutions, and scientific centers. However, researchers remind us that the world's thirty million mammals used each year in research are but a fraction of 1 percent of the billions of animals killed annually for food. While researchers each year conduct experiments on some 200,000 dogs and cats cared for under humane regulations, humane animal shelters are forced to kill 50 times that many. How many of us would have attacked Pasteur's experiments with rabies, which caused some dogs to suffer but led to a vaccine that spared millions of people and dogs from agonizing death? And would we really wish to have deprived ourselves of the animal research that led to effective methods of training children with mental disorders; of relieving fears and depression; and of controlling alcoholism and disease? Of course, the answer is no.

         Animal research is ethical. Without animal research, medicine as we know it today wouldn't exist. Defenders of research on animals argue that anyone who has eaten a hamburger, tolerated hunting and fishing, or worn leather shoes agreed that, yes, it is permissible to sacrifice animals for the sake of human well-being. If humans give human life first priority, the second issue is the priority they give to the well-being of animals in research. Most researchers today feel morally obligated to enhance the well-being of captive animals and protect them from needless suffering. In one survey of animal researchers, 98 percent or more supported government regulations protecting primates, cats, and dogs, and 74 percent supported regulations providing for the humane care of rats and mice.  Additionally, many funding agencies and professional associations have rules for the humane use of animals. For instance, British Psychological Society guidelines call for housing animals under reasonably natural living conditions, with companions for social animals. Humane care also leads to more effective science, because stress and pain distort the animals' behavior during tests.

           Today's scientists are not motivated by cruelty, but by a powerful desire to push the frontiers of medical research and develop therapies for debilitating diseases. Professional ethical standards provide guidelines concerning the treatment of research participants, and university ethics committees safeguard participants' well-being. It is obvious that animal research benefits all living species and that we are able to live longer, healthier, happier lives because of it.

          

Works Cited

Christina, Cook. "Stand Up for Science." : Facts about Animal Research. Pro Test, 26 Mar. 2012. Web. 17 Feb. 2013. <http://www.pro-test.org.uk/2006/03/facts-about-animal-research.html>.

Claire, Madelyn. "Against Animal Testing." Teen Ink. N.p., 11 Feb. 2013. Web. 17 Feb. 2013. <http://teenink.com/hot_topics/environment/article/440790/Against-Animal-Testing/>.

Fox, Fiona. "Animal Research Is Brave, Not Cruel, Science." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 28 Sept. 2012. Web. 17 Feb. 2013. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/28/animal-research-brave-not-cruel-science>.