Running Head: ANIMAL TESTING

Animal testing: An unfair practice supported by law.

Leonardo Germán Mera Andrade

Casa Grande University

September 2, 2018
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Animal testing should be banned

According to Cruelty Free company in England, animal test is any scientific

experiment or test in which animals are forced to undergo something that may cause them

harm, pain, or even distress. Every year, a National Institute of Health (NIH) laboratory in

the United States, breeds dozens of monkeys to be prone to mental illness. They are torn

away from their mothers when they are babies and never let them see each other again, so

to cause mental trauma on them. The babies suffer from anxiety, fear and deep depression

and, as a result, they lose hair, suffer of diarrhea and even commit self-mutilation. This

performance of experiments with animals goes back to the times of the Ancient Greece,

where Aristotle and Erasistratus first documented animal testing in the 4th and 3rd century

BCE. Later, in 1242, Ibl al-Nafis described the circulation of blood in mammals using

animals in different experiments. Since then, thousands of animals have been tortured,

harmed and even killed in the name of Science and Medicine. Animal testing should be

considered illegal since the balance of the planet depends on the species living in their

endemic places, as well as the many things we, as reasonable animals, can learn from them

without causing such merciless suffering and, to inherit a sense of humanity and respect for

life in upcoming generations.

The Pachamama Alliance, an environmental Ecuadorian organization, demonstrated

the relationship between animals in their habitat and the balance of the planet. Studies

revealed that animals like sea lions and seals support research at University of California

Santa Cruz related to climate change and the measurement of salinity, temperature and

other conditions so they can develop better models of ocean water circulation due to their

ability to dive deep below the water-s surface easily to track climate change. Another
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example of this relationship is the influence of rats in the balance of the planet. Their

contribution in the growth of new trees through seed spreading, the important role they play

in the food chain as prey for most of the secondary level species, and the distribution of

fungus on the soil to allow other living things such as orchids to germinate and sprout are

just some of the reasons why rats are so important for the conservation of the balance on

earth. This set of events in nature could not be possible if they are deliberately taken away

from their habitats to be caged and sent to laboratories for being part of painful testing.

In Puget Sound, in northwest of Washington, a killing whale gave birth to a calf, but

it died minutes after being born. The mother kept the baby’s body on the surface with her

nose for about seventeen days to avoid its body to be eaten by predators. This behavior

might be of humans and, especially mothers but, it does happened with whales: killing

whales. This species is considered one of the most lethal sea animals of the planet, after the

great white shark, according to National Geographic research developed this year. Instead,

they taught a great lesson of cherish and love. Some of these species are caught to be in

captivity for fun or testing behavior. The exposition of these animals to noisy audiences

leads them to suffer of anxiety, depression and aggressiveness in some cases. As a result,

they strike back against their trainers and finally sacrificed due to their aggressive behavior.

There is no other way to become better humans than making sense of the great wisdom of

nature and, in order to reach such knowledge, we must be aware of what we can learn of

them in their natural habitats.

Mahatma Gandhi said, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be

judged by the way its animals are treated." The wisdom between lines in this quote does not

need to be explained. Animal testing exchanged scientific advances by the price of lives.
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The ways they are treated in laboratories or experimental rooms do not represent the

communities. Nevertheless, animal testing is well-known by authorities and, is that much

that there is an act called the Animal welfare act, registered in 1966, which regulates the

treatment of animals in research and exhibition, and states the species which can be used

for this type of practices. Regulations cannot be allowed when there is life, freedom and the

right to be respected as part of the ecosystem, that are the factors that our children should

learn in order to live in a more fair and harmonic world.

In conclusion, we have enough reasons to support the fact that animal testing should

be illegal and humankind should stop playing to be God through making decisions on other

beings’ lives. Animals have proven that have feelings beyond our understanding, as well as

the right to be free and play an important role in the balance of our planet. Otherwise, how

could we explain beautiful phenomena that happen around us, when trees grow, or the

control of plague. We should be aware of taking action on time, because if we don-t, it will

be too late to be sorry for not taking care of our fauna.

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References

Cruelty Free International, (2018). Animal testing: Definition. Retrieved from

http://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/why-we-do-it/what-animal-testing

definition of animal testing

PETA, (2018). Pointless animal experiments happening now. Retrieved from

https://www.petalatino.com/en/blog/current-animal-experiments/

Perfil, (2018, August 1). International. Retrieved from

http://www.perfil.com/noticias/internacional/la-ballena-que-no-queria-

desprenderse-de-su-bebe-muerto.phtml

Mueller, J (2018). How rodents help the ecosystem. Retrieved from

https://animals.mom.me/rodents-ecosystem-7390.html

NatGeo, (2018). Dangerous sea animals. Retrieved from

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/oceans/photos/dangerous-sea-

creatures/