Animals in Lab By Paul Choi 06/10/09

What is the problem? Scientists argue that animal testing is needed for safety of human health. Groups like PETA who are against animal testing argues that it is not necessary and in fact it should be banned.

What is the best Solution? Necessary testing like AIDs research should be kept, but unnecessary testing like cosmetics and food testing should be banned. Think before you decide: many vaccines for many serious disease were found due to animal testing and also the general surgeon has once said that scientists were able to measure the danger of smoking due to animal testing.

Arguments about Animal Testing: HIV FOR: Animals are the best way to test vaccines, because it would be unethical to give a human a vaccine, and then to try to give them HIV to see if it works. AGAINST: It is no more ethical to give an animal a life-threatening illness than it is to give one to a human. FOR: Humans are clearly unique amongst animals in our abilities and intellect. Animals do not experience pain and emotion in the same way that we do because they lack language and the power of abstract thought AGAINST: An animal’s life is equal to a human’s and we have no right to assume otherwise simply because animals cannot express their pain and suffering in words FOR: It is a legal requirement that drugs are tested on animals for safety in the majority of countries. Scientists have no choice in this matter. AGAINST: Perhaps if laws on the necessity for animal testing were relaxed, or animal safety-testing were banned, it would encourage scientists to develop other methods of testing toxicity that were equally effective. At the moment, they have no incentive to do so, so only a small handful of alternatives are being tested.

Benefits of Animal Testing Medicines would not be possible without animal testing. Surgeries like pacemaker, reattachment of limbs, and transplants were made possible through animal testing. Scientists have found vaccines for disease like Polio, and disinfectants like Penicillin

Dumb Testing Testing of cosmetic products like lotion, mascara, and others. Why can’t we just live the way we are born? Testing of food. An example can be POM juice. Testing of toxicity that leads to no result. Ex: Huntington Laboratory held an mushroom experiment on animals that killed several animals without any results.

How does this connect to Ethics? Many animal’s right activists base ethics on solely humane treatment of animals. They do not see that sacrifice is needed for the only intellectual creatures on earth to healthy and safe. Of course, some tests are dumb and unnecessary, but many tests has proven to be useful. So, the word ethics in science should be based on the situation it puts us in before we decide what is right and wrong.