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Jordan Rose
ENG 1201.505
19th July, 2014
Animal Testing Ethi!al or "rong#
Animal e$%erimentation has &een around sin!e the an!ient Gree's (hen mammals, &irds,
and re%tiles (ere disse!ted to study ho( their &odies (or'ed. )edi!al animal testing *or drug
e**e!ts didn+t ha%%en until the late 1,,0s. There ha-e &een many ad-an!es in medi!ine &e!ause
o* animal e$%erimentation sin!e then. .mmunity to the di%htheria to$in, insulin, some
anti&ioti!s, and the %olio -irus are /ust to name a *e( su!!ess*ul results *rom animal
e$%erimentation. All o* the ad-an!es in medi!ine, listed a&o-e, (ere done &y testing animals
&e*ore the *ederal Animal "el*are A!t 0A"A1, (hi!h (as esta&lished in 1922. This a!t (as set in
%la!e to ma'e sure all animals &eing tested, *or medi!al or !osmeti! reasons, are treated ethi!ally
and *eel little to no %ain 03nethi!al and 3nne!essary 41. Although this a!t is a *ederal la(, there
is still unethi!al testing and terri&le harassment to animals e-ery day in resear!h la&s. This all
%oses the 5uestion6 is animal testing ethi!al or /ust %lain (rong#
7!ientists ha-e to re%ort ho( many animals are 'illed on e-ery single study, &e!ause o*
the A"A. There are loo%8holes to this a!t though. )i!e, rodents, &irds, re%tiles, and am%hi&ians
do not ha-e to &e !al!ulated into this total 0Ar!hi&ald, 9eder, "ol**1. This !an mean that no
matter ho( many &irds a !ertain drug has 'illed or !osmeti!s ha-e !reated rashes, it !an still &e
released to the %u&li! *or human use. E-en animals !o-ered under the Animal "el*are A!t :!an
;still< &e &urned, sho!'ed, %oisoned, isolated, star-ed, *or!i&ly restrained, addi!ted to drugs, and
&rain8damaged= 03nethi!al and 3nne!essary 41. >y la(, ea!h resear!h institution has to ha-e an
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.nstitutional Animal ?are and 3se ?ommittee 0.A?3?1. The %ur%ose o* these !ommittees is to
re%ort and /usti*y the resear!h la&+s need *or ea!h ty%e o* animal. .n addition, they are limited to
the amount o* ea!h s%e!ie o* animal they !an use. The A"A determines ho( many animals !an
&e used in a test. @o(e-er, this only a%%lies to %rimates, !anines, *elines, and other s%e!i*ied
animals.
The treatment o* these animals, is another area (hi!h is o-er8loo'ed &y the go-ernment
and their regulations. 9or some o* the tests to &e done e**e!ti-ely, the animals must *or*eit their
hierar!hy o* needs, (hi!h in!ludes their %sy!hologi!al needs. E-ery li-ing !reature needs lo-e
and the sense o* &elonging. This !an &e done &y sim%ly %etting or holding an animal. There is
no need *or an animal to sit in a !old dar' !age6 alone. There is no need *or any animal to *eel
negle!ted either. The %eo%le (or'ing in these resear!h *a!ilities are restri!ted *rom holding them
and *rom %laying (ith them. This is !om%letely unethi!al treatment.
:Tens o* millions o* animals are 'illed or maimed ea!h year in resear!h on the sa*ety and
e**e!ti-eness o* ne( drugs= 09eder 11. Aeggs says in 2005 there (ere o-er t(el-e million
animals used in e$%eriments in Euro%e alone. This is an e$!essi-e amount, es%e!ially &e!ause
animals are not a su&stitute *or humans as test su&/e!ts 0Ar!hi&ald6 >lue6 9eder, 3nethi!al and
3nne!essary1. .n the arti!le :Animal Testing 7!ien!e or 9i!tion= Ar!hi&ald %oints out
)ost o* ;%eo%le< 'no( that !an!er, heart disease and stro'es are the leading
!auses o* death in the "est. >ut many %eo%le (ould &e sur%rised &y the ne$t
&iggest 'iller side e**e!ts o* %res!ri%tion medi!ines. Ad-erse drug rea!tions 'ill
more than 10,000 %eo%le a year in the 3B 0and more than 100,000 in the 371
0Ar!hi&ald 11.
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Animals are ne-er a good re%la!ement *or humans (hen it !omes to drug, !osmeti!, or
allergy testing. Resear!h *a!ilities say that !ats are used &e!ause they ha-e the &est similarities to
the human neurologi!al system. Cogs are used in !ardio-as!ular studies, although no( %igs are
used more o*ten no( a days. .n osteoarthritis studies horses are used &e!ause their /oints mimi!
those o* humans 0>lue1. Although these animals ha-e similarities to a human+s organ, mus!le, or
&one stru!ture, doesn+t ma'e it the e$a!t same. There*ore, no test done on any animal !an gi-e
you a one hundred %er!ent !orre!t res%onse to ho( it (ill rea!t (hen a human !onsumes it.
"hen testing a heart drug on a dog it may %rodu!e a %ositi-e result. >ut does that drug e**e!t
any other %art o* the &ody# Crugs are not tested on /ust one animal. Dn!e a drug is deemed sa*e
*or dogs, then !ats ta'e it, then mi!e, and so *orth until numerous animals ha-e ta'en the same
drug 0>lue 11. A*ter all this is done, the drug !an still harm a human, %ossi&ly e-en 'ill them.
This is (hy s!ientists at resear!h la&s need to 'no( ho( a drug (ill a**e!t a human+s entire &ody,
not /ust the heart or lungs, et!.
"hen !lini!al tests are not run on humans, %eo%le start to see things all o-er the ne(s li'e
(hat ha%%ened (hen Eio$$ (as introdu!ed. Eio$$ is an Arthritis drug that (as re!alled in
7e%tem&er o* 2004. This drug seemed !om%letely sa*e in animals and e-en ad-antageous to
their hearts. .n the 3nited 7tates alone, Eio$$ !aused 140,000 stro'es and heart atta!'s in
humans. Another misleading animal test that resear!hers said de!reased the ris' *or heart
diseases and stro'es in mon'eys, &ut in!reased these ris's in (omen is hormone8re%la!ement
thera%y 0@RT1. @RT !aused 20,000 (omen to ha-e &reast !an!er and many thousands o* heart
atta!'s and stro'es6 only in >ritian 0Ar!hi&ald 21. T(enty8*i-e %er!ent o* drugs that are tested on
animals *ailed to %rodu!e side e**e!ts that %ro-ed to &e serious enough to 'ee% the drugs *rom
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&eing mar'eted 09eder 21. Aegg s(ears that :nonhuman animal e$%eriments do not %rodu!e
human gains=051.
There are (ay too many ris's to ta'e (hen solely relying on animals to test drugs *or us.
Animals are not a su&stitute *or humans. There is no (ay around this. 7!ientist all o-er the
(orld ha-e &een trying to !ome u% (ith other (ays to test drugs, !osmeti!s, and allergies
(ithout using animals. 7ni%%ets o* human s'in, eyes, and the lining o* throats are no( :routinely
gro(n in test tu&es *rom donated human !ells= 09eder 11. )i!rodoses o* %otentially harm*ul
drugs !an &e analyFed on these ty%es o* sam%le tissues. Coing this !auses neither human nor
animals to &e harmed in any(ay. .n Eitro Ga&oratories is a *a!ility (here they test drugs and
other related %rodu!ts (ithout using animals. They !harge :u% to H20,000 to s!reen a drug
against li-er !ells and other human tissues *or to$i! e**e!ts= 09eder 21. 9or an animal resear!h la&
to get the same results, they (ould ha-e to administer mu!h more o* the drug to the animals, (ait
5uite a &it longer and :%ay *or the u%'ee% and e-entual auto%sies o* the animals used= 09eder 21.
There is also another alternati-e. Endosa*e is a !om%any that %ro-ides another (ay to
test *e-er8%rodu!ing &a!teria (ithout testing solutions on a ra&&it+s eyes. The test they run !osts
H5 and has not only re%la!ed most ra&&it testing, &ut also is used in dialysis !enters to !he!' on
(ater 5uality. There are so many solutions to animal e$%erimentation. "hy don+t (e use them#
These alternati-es are using real human !ells or tissue, so the test is mu!h more a!!urate than
using %oor little hel%less animals.
The animals used in studies are :-ie(ed as la&oratory e5ui%ment= 0Aeggs 121. This is yet
another thing (rong (ith animals testing. .t+s one thing to test on animals, it+s another to harm
them or treat them unethi!ally. That+s /ust %lain (rong. .n a AETA -ideo titled Nestea
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CruelTEA, there is a %art (here they des!ri&e ho( animals are treated so &adly that (e (ould
:shutter to e-en imagine=. This is una!!e%ta&le. Though these animals are mainly &reed *or this
%ur%ose and don+t 'no( any other (ay o* li*e, they do not ha-e to &e harmed and tortured. Ies,
the -ast ma/ority o* 22,414 dogs and 21, 24J !ats that (ere tested on in 2002 (ere &red
s%e!i*i!ally *or testing, &ut not all. Not all animals used in these horri&le and shame*ul
e$%eriments are all &red to &e there. A lot o* these thousands o* animals (ere a!5uired *rom
:death ro(= at animal %ounds 0Ethi!al and Essential 41. 7o ne$t time you see an animal at the
%ound and de!ided not to get it, thin' o* (here it might end u%. )ost li'ely sha-ed or s'inned
and tortured to death.
Gastly, i* s!ientists (ant to !ontinue to say that there is no re%la!ement *or animal
e$%erimentation, they+re !orre!t. There isn+t a re%la!ement, &e!ause these ty%es o* tests are no
longer needed. "ith the (ay medi!ine and te!hnology has e-ol-ed, there should not &e any
animals used in testing. .* s!ientists !an gro( a %ig in a test tu&e, they !an gro( enough human
tissue to do their testing instead o* testing on animals. Regulations are &eing &ro'en &y these
resear!h la&oratories, so (hy not shut them do(n. )any -olunteers are (illing to gi-e &lood or
tissue sam%les i* /ust one animal (as sa-ed *rom resear!h hell. Ies, good things ha-e !ome out
o* animal testing, &ut many horri&le results ha-e &een hauled a(ay in gar&age &ags. There isn+t
a su&stitute *or man. That+s (hy the &est model *or man is man.
"or' ?ited
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Ar!hi&ald, Bathy. :Animal Testing 7!ien!e or 9i!tion.= Glo&al A!tion Net(or'. n.%. n.d. "e&.
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Nestea CruelTEA. Cir. AETA. 2014. Eideo.
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Rational ?hoi!e.= Society & Animals 1, 020101 1820. Arint.
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