Animal Testing Essay -- essays research papers

Biology and Behavior Animal testing is not a problem in today’s society because it is beneficial to humans. It seems unethical to put animals through such pain and torture, but if we stopped it completely there would be a large amount of human lives lost. How could this be? The further advancements in medical and technological science is inevitable. Therefore, if the testing must be done to learn more about the brain and body, which species (animals or man) seems expendable for such testing. The real question is which species is more ethical to test on. For example, a rat is given an injection with a drug and watched regularly for the period of a month. At the end of the month the rat is injected with a lethal toxin and dissected for scientific reasons. The purpose of the experiment is to determine whether or not the regular use of the drug would have any type of an effect on the brain of the rat. In contrast there is a man age 23 that has consented to be used for the same experiment. It not only would be unethical but against the law to try an experiment of this nature on a man. The end result would be the death of a perfectly healthy human. Which circumstance now seems unethical? One could also take in to consideration that the human’s death could have an impact on his family as well as the people that knew him. Above all the question of whether or not animal testing is ethical or not, really boils down to the purpose of the testing and whether or not it is a legitimate cause. Every man and woman has benefited from animal testing in one form or another. Most of what we know about the brain and body is a direct result of animal testing. Only in recent history have there been advancements in technology in both the fields of medicine, and science that have made it possible to see in side the human body. Unfortunately this still is not enough. The testing must be done on a living organism. Depending on the type and purpose of the test, the organism (man or animal) must be observed carefully and monitored for changes in behavior, health, and in some cases life or death. There are unpredictable reactions that occur in the body of living organisms when an alienable substance enters the blood stream. That is why animal testing is necessary. For instance, a computer can not determine whether or not a certain prototype vaccine will have a beneficial or cata... ...ake and convulse on the floor, the last thing left to do is throw his body in a burning fire, and go pick the next runner up for the experiment. Obviously, no matter how this is viewed it is murder. Even though animal testing is said to be beneficial to humans, many times the animals are used for other purposes. According to an online article posted by a company known as the Nature of Wellness, "Horrifying chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, possessed by an ever-increasing number of countries are tested on animals the same way a drug, detergent, or toothpaste is tested on animals. Conventional weapons of all sorts are also tested in vivisectionist laboratories, where animals are routinely used as surrogates for man in warlike situations" ("Animal Experimentation: No Lie Can Live Forever." 1996). With such a misuse of the terrible act of animal testing, just goes to show that something must be done. There is no way to guarantee the safety and proper test ing of the animals in a way that only is beneficial to mankind. There will always be someone out there trying to scheme up a crazy invention or harmful agent, and the only thing that suffers is the animals