Animal Testing Research Paper

"It is estimated that more than 115 million animals worldwide are used in laboratory experiments every year. In the United States, up to 90 percent of the animals used in laboratories are excluded from the official statistics. Although these animals still endure the stressed and deprivations of life in the sterile laboratory environment, their lives are not recorded in official statistics (“About Animal

The practice of animal testing is a very debatable topic. “Each year, more than 100 million animals, including mice, rats, frogs, dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, monkeys, fish, and birds are killed in U.S. laboratories” (Experiments). “The term “animal testing” refers to procedures performed on living animals for purposes of research into basic biology and diseases assessing the effectiveness of new medicinal products, and testing the human health and/or environmental safety of consumer and industry products such as cosmetics, household cleaners, food additives, pharmaceuticals and industrial/agro-chemicals” (About). There is numerous pros and cons for using animals in experiments for humans for our everyday needs. There is different pros for animal testing including helping researchers to find drugs and treatments, help ensure safety of drugs, there are no other testing alternatives, and it provides an opportunity to examine a complete life cycle.

(About Animal Testing) The animals are often raised in captivity, specifically for experimentation and are killed after the tests. In the article “New Technologies Could Eliminate the Need for Animal Experimentation”, Andrew Rowan writes that animals are used for testing drugs,

Smith, Wesley J. "The Grim Good of Animal Research." www.firstthings.com (18 Oct. 2013). Rpt.

Researchers estimated over 26 million animals were used for scientific tests and commercial testing subject every year in the United States. Over the years animals were used to be tested on medical treatments, products for human uses, health care, and etc. The practice of researching on living animals has started since 500 BC. Opponents of this act say that it is cruel to experiment on animals, there are other methods available to replace the cruel act of experimenting on living animals, and that the human bodies and animal’s bodies are totally two different features and the research often yields irrelevant results. The federal Animal Welfare or AWA passed the animal testing act in 1966 and amended in 1970, 1976, and 1985.

Many debilitating diseases and conditions have been cured and prevented using vaccinations that were tested on animals. For example, Emil von Behring performed an experiment on guinea pigs that helped form the vaccine for diphtheria (Soft Schools). The significance of this experiment helped von Behring earn a Nobel Prize in Physiology (Soft Schools). Following von Behring’s findings, Edgar Adrian used frogs to confirm the specific way that the brain sends signals to different parts of the body (Soft Schools). Advancements in the understanding of diabetes, tuberculosis, and polio, along with the formation of anesthetics all were successful with the help of animal testing (Soft Schools).

While they do save countless live animal testing is not proven to always work on humans. Animal testing has been proven beneficial to life saving cures. In the Article, it states, “Association states that nearly every medical breakthrough in the last 100

Animal testing in the United States provides minimal benefits for the amount of pain and distress animals must endure. Animals are given artificially induced conditions, that they would not receive naturally, and experimented on. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stated that ninety-four percent of drugs that are shown to be safe and effective in animal tests fail in human trials. The experimentation of animals is not only ineffective, but cruel and inefficient for the United States. With such negative affects alternate ways have been produced to combat the mistreatment of animals.

When they are mentioned in the official documents, none of the other animals that are currently being tested, such as rabbits, rats, mice, fish, hamsters, guinea pigs, and birds, etc., are acknowledged. This means that there are no limitations on what researchers can do with those animals. On the one hand, there are animal rights advocates who recognize the problem of animal cruelty and the immediate need to end all animal testing. On the other hand, there are businesses, brands, and research facilities that see this as a way to save lives and do not see any other

However, both sides agree that it would be beneficial to reduce animal suffering by finding alternatives to this practice. On one side of the spectrum, supporters of animal testing point out how valuable the practice is to scientists, and the medical advances that have stemmed from animal research. According to the Foundation for Biomedical Research (FBR), “…practically every drug, treatment, medical device, diagnostic tool or cure we have today was developed with the help of lab animals” (“Benefits of Biomedical Research”). The FBR is clearly stating that, without the help of animal testing, medical advances would be nearly impossible.

Leukemia used to be a death sentence with a survival rate of 4%, but now, because of testing, there is an 80% chance of survival. These odds are much more pleasant than the ones before research. People have gotten help for many diseases because of the research and testing done on animals. Not only does testing help humans, it also leads to developing life saving medical treatments for animals as well.

Animal testing is the experimentation on animals such as mice, lizards, monkeys, etc. to assess the effectiveness of various medications and cosmetics. Scientist tests various medications and experiment on animals to better understand how the human body works, and to find a solution to different diseases that are killing people. While many scientists and doctors believe this is necessary, many people oppose this practice as they believe it is animal torture. The US National Academy of Sciences released a report in 2007 about a future without the need of experimentation of animals.

“Animals in laboratories are failed by the regulatory bodies set in place to protect them. Millions of animals are tested on without any relief from pain or basic care,” (Law). “ In 2012, monkeys were boiled alive when sent through scalding-hot mechanical cage

It is true that animal testing requires a lot of investment. Not only that money is spent on advanced technologies, it is also spent to pay for scientists’ expertise on this particular field. In order for the scientists to do their research, they need suitable equipment and substances. Every year, the National institutes of Health finances between $12 billion to $14.5 billion on animal testing as indicated in a study done by the government (Bastach, 2013). Besides, scientists need to consider the fact that animals need to be sheltered, fed and cared for to keep them alive.

Animal testing is killing many thousands of animals each year. Animals are being used all over the world to come up with treatment for sickness. Specifically, According to the daily telegraph states “Each year, more than 100 million animals—including mice, rats, frogs, dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, monkeys, fish, and birds—are killed in U.S. laboratories for biology lessons, medical training, curiosity-driven experimentation, and chemical, drug, food, and cosmetics testing. ”Additionally in the United States about a million of animals are being used each year. According to the chart below it represents the number of animals used in research in the united state in 2016, it says about 820,812 animals were used only, in.