Rayna Fenstermacher Fenstermacher 1

Rutherford
English 15 Section 002
14 December 2020
Downsides to Animal Testing

The subject of the use of animals for the manufacturing of products that benefit human

life has been a heavily debated topic for quite some time. Animals should not be the test

subjects of humans because it is unethical, they do not always produce the same results as

they would in humans, and it is an absurd loss of both time and money.

One of the main reasons that animal testing should be a thing of the past is because it is

entirely unethical. This is due to the fact that many animals will experience cruel and inhumane

treatment during the experimentation process. The Humane Society International has reported

that many animals are the victims of a number of traumas that can include, “force-feedings,

deprivation of both food and water, purposeful infliction of burns, and killings due to asphyxiation

or decapitation.” The US Department of Agriculture has also reported that more than three

hundred thousand animals are involved in these types of research activities every year. Only a

measly 5% of animals used in experiments are protected by federal laws in the United States

which excludes rats, mice, fish, and birds (Testing).

Animals have their own sense of dignity which is being overlooked and greatly disturbed.

It is a common thought that humans are the primary species. Rebekah Humphreys mentions

many believe that “Humans alone have the qualities or characteristics which make them worthy

of direct moral respect.” A federally funded research lab in New Iberia has even had cases

where the primates were so psychologically damaged that they engaged in self-mutilation. Many

would attempt to justify this exploitation of animals in modern-day practices, but there is no

excuse for leaving an animal with that amount of disrespect for themselves given by the hands

of men. Animals should not be set lower on the totem pole than humans and deserve respect.

Another reason that animal testing is an outdated practice is that all side effects and

reactions are not shared from species to species. Humans and animals do not metabolize

chemicals the same because each system is not an exact replica of the other (Limitations).
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Because different systems have different reactions, females will react differently because they

have a different reproductive system than males (Lechner). An arthritis drug, Vioxx, protected

the hearts of mice but was the creation of more than twenty-seven thousand heart attacks

before it was pulled from the shelves. Aspirin has almost the opposite effect; it is very

dangerous and potentially fatal to some species but is used very regularly as an

over-the-counter drug for humans. The US Food and Drug Administration also released that,

“ninety-four percent of the drugs that pass animal tests,” end up failing in human beings

(Testing). There should not be testing done for the benefit of humans because it yields

inaccurate results that can be life-threatening.

Animal testing is unnecessary because it costs companies copious amounts of money

and hours of time. There is a surplus of amounts of animal lives and dollars lost to potentially

reach accurate results. Most experiments are done predominantly on male animals because

they are cheaper. Including both female and male animals in the testing process would only

further increase the cost of production (Lechner). There are even regulations in Europe that

“require animal testing for every new and existing chemical produced or imported into the EU in

large volume,” (Limitations). Evaluation of each could take a lot of money, experimentation many

years, and thousands of innocent animal lives.

There is even an absurd cost to get products approved by the United States

Administrations. Four billion dollars worth of research is spent for every new drug the FDA

approves and once “human trials” begin, one study can cost between one-hundred million and a

billion dollars (Herper). The Humane Society International reported that “It takes about a decade

and three million dollars to complete all animal tests required to register a single pesticide with

the US Environmental Protection Agency,” (Limitations). Animal testing is worthless spending

because they are cost and time ineffective, and usually results in failure.

Some people may argue that animal testing is the best method because most of the

animals used are bred for science, animals share DNA with humans, and there is no better
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option than animals. Even though more than ninety-five percent of the tests are conducted on

rodents are bred specifically for laboratory use and some laws make animal testing mandatory

before human research is conducted, it is still unethical (Why). In the past, it was customary for

testing to be done on people that were seen as less human: prisoners, the mentally insane, and

children (Humphreys). Just because it is what has been done in the past, does not automatically

make it a justifiable action.

While it is true that mice share more than 98% of their DNA with humans, there is only

“one type of DNA” that all plants and animals share. Plants share approximately 99% of their

DNA with all animal species, including humans (Genetics). So based on that logic, all

medications should be tested on an apple.

Many would say they agree with animal testing so humans are not tested on but Paul

Furlong, a Clinical Neuroimaging professor at Aston University, once said, “it’s hard to create an

animal model that even equates closely to what we’re trying to achieve in the human,” (Testing).

Researchers have now developed microdevices that can replicate the functions of the heart,

lungs, kidneys, and other organs that can provide more precise information than animal

experimentations can (Experimentation). It is entirely unnecessary and plausible to discontinue

animal testing and get better results.

The use of animals as the test subjects for the benefit of human beings should no longer

be done because it is inhumane, different species reactions vary when exposed to different

chemicals, and it is often a waste of precious time and funding. Animals should not be held at a

lower standard of respect than humans because they also have their own sense of dignity.

There are many discrepancies between reactions in animals and humans that are unreliable.

Many years and even decades can go by that only produce a failure that has lost millions of

dollars. Animal experimentation is an outdated practice that is unnecessary in today's society.

The reasons to exterminate this heinous method far outweigh the reasons as to why it should be

continued.
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Works Cited

"Animal Experimentation." Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2019. Gale In

Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/PC3010999220/OVIC?u=pl2127&sid=OVIC&xid=ee593b7

d. Accessed 8 Nov. 2020.

“Animal Testing - Pros & Cons - ProCon.Org.” Animal Testing, 18 Mar. 2020,

https://animal-testing.procon.org/. Accessed 10 Nov. 2020.

Genetics, DNA, Plants and Humans.

https://www.saps.org.uk/saps-associates/browse-q-and-a/473-how-much-dna-do-plants-

share-with-humans-over-99#:~:text=How%20much%20DNA%20do%20plants,need%20t

o%20be%20careful%20with. Accessed 29 Nov. 2020.

Herper, Matthew. “The Truly Staggering Cost of Inventing New Drugs.” Forbes, Forbes, 10 Feb.

2012,

www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2012/02/10/the-truly-staggering-cost-of-inventing-

new-drugs/#3b008a0c4a94. Accessed 15 Oct. 2020.

Humphreys, Rebekah. "Dignity and its violation examined within the context of animal ethics."

Ethics & the Environment, vol. 21, no. 2, 2016, p. 143+. Gale In Context: Opposing

Viewpoints,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A473922061/OVIC?u=psucic&sid=OVIC&xid=cf7aebed.

Accessed 6 Nov. 2020.

Lechner, Judith. Sexy Cells: Alternatives to Animal Experimentation. www.ted.com,

https://www.ted.com/talks/judith_lechner_sexy_cells_alternatives_to_animal_experiment

ation. Accessed 10 Nov. 2020.

“Limitations of Animal Tests,” Humane Society International, Humane Society International, 24

Feb. 2019, hsi.org/news-media/limitations-of-animal-tests/. Accessed 31 Oct. 2020.

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“Why Animal Research?” Animal Research at Stanford,

https://med.stanford.edu/animalresearch/why-animal-research.html. Accessed 11 Nov.

2020.