Testing Products on Animals Is Unethical Essay Example

million cats and 54 million dogs in the United States (“Animal Facts”).

However, it is approximated 17-22 million of these cuddly creatures are used in studies annually (“Animal Facts”). Even though this number is extremely high, cats and dogs only make up one to one and half percent of animal research (“Animal Facts”). Eighty-five to ninety percent are rats, mice, guinea pigs, rabbits and other rodents (“Animal Facts”). But the worst statistic I have found is that fewer than one dog or cat is used for research for every 50 killed by animal pounds. Shelters and pounds take in animals who have been abandoned or harmed and nurse them back to health.

But if these hopeless animals do not find a home or owner in a designated amount of time, the shelters will kill them due to overcrowding. This would mean if 17-22 million are being tested in labs each year, approximately 850 million to one billion animals are being killed in shelters each year. Now if this were humans, it would be an outrage but since they are just helpless animals it is seen as not a big deal. Animal testing dates all the way back to second and fourth century BCE where a physician in Rome dissected pigs and goats.

In the twelfth century another physician, Moorish Spain, “introduced animal testing as an experimental method of testing surgical procedures before applying them to human patients” (Wikipedia: “Animal Testing”). Some of the tests run today in labs include pure research, applied research, xenotransplantation, toxicology, cosmetics and drug testing, and finally education, breeding, and defense. Pure research examines how organisms develop, function, and behave (Wikipedia: “Animal Testing”).

Compared to

applied research, pure research uses larger numbers and a greater variety of animals. Applied research attempts to solve specific and practical problems such as pharmaceutical. Xenotransplantation requires transplanting tissues and/or organs from one species to another. An example of this would be using pigs’ organs that have been genetically modified and placed inside of a primate to reduce the primates’ immune response against pig tissue. Toxicology or safety testing is mostly done by pharmaceutical companies testing drugs. Toxicology tests are used to examine finished products such as pesticides, medications, food additives, packing materials, and air freshener, or their chemical ingredients. [Although] most tests involve testing ingredients rather than finished products” (Wikipedia: “Animal Testing”). Cosmetic testing usually includes skin and eye irritancy and photo toxicity which are generated by ultraviolet light. Skin and eye irritancy is also known as the Draize Eye Test. This is when a substance is placed into an animals, particularly a rabbits, eyes and skin for days until the cells in the organ become dead.

Since rabbits do not produce as much tears as humans they can withstand the pain much longer than we can. However, the Draize test can still result in blinding of the little furry creatures (Wikipedia: “Animal Testing”). The next type of research is drug testing. One of the three drug tests still legal in the United States is the metabolic tests. This is the study of how drugs are absorbed when taken orally, intramuscularly (through the muscle), or through the skin; also known as transdermally.

The final procedure performed by labs around the world includes education, breeding, and defense. “Animals are used for education and training; are bred for

use in laboratories; and are used by the military to develop weapons, vaccines, battlefield surgical techniques, and defensive clothing” (Wikipedia: “Animal Testing”). Animal testing over the years has become much more advanced and technical. In many countries particular tests are no longer legal or allowed due to the severity of the procedures.

Although the tests and research on animals has grown to be healthier for the animals, so many are still dying every year. Animals have a right to live too and should not be used as bate or “Study #1” to further a humans career. Without the tests and research performed on animals, products such as shampoo would not be as successful as they could be, and many humans would and could experience harmful effects due to the use of certain products. Animal testing is important in today’s society, especially with all the new products being introduced each year.

A new product cannot come out onto the market without being investigated and examined thoroughly to ensure the safety of the users, us humans. According to Dr. George Poste, a veterinarian and director of Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, he says “Animal studies continue to be necessary for advancing human and animal health and have played a vital role in virtually every major medical advance. This includes lifesaving drugs and vaccines, new surgical procedures and improved diagnosis of disease. ” Dr. Poste is right.

Animal testing, although brutal at times, has led us humans to discover diseases, cures for diseases, and medicines appropriate for anyone with an illness. It is extremely difficult to make every party happy when debating about important issues. This being said, one cannot

be for AIDS research and against animal testing. It is because of animal studies that scientists and doctors know how to treat such diseases and are still learning of new methods to do so. A life without animal testing would be “a life without drugs, vaccines, painkillers, anesthetics and surgery” (Poste).

So it can be understood that animal testing, even though sometimes harsh and cruel, it is a necessity we must have in our world today in order to survive. Without the medical research performed on animals who knows where we would stand. I believe testing products on animals falls under the ethical system rights. This is because as humans and animals we all have a right to freedom and our own entitlement. In America, “Land of the Free”, every citizen, according to the First Ten Amendments, has freedom of speech, press, religion, and petition.

This being said, we have the right to test products on animals but also to argue against the damaging research and protest our thoughts whether it is publicly or behind closed doors. Animals too have rights; and I believe they have the right to be left alone and in the wild, in their habitat, in their home. As humans it is our duty and obligation to make certain innocent and harmless creatures such as rats, mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, cats, and dogs are left alone and out of animal shelters, pounds, laboratories, or cages.

It is our duty to keep our communities and habitats safe. Animal testing may be important in society but even if this is true, it still does not make it ethical. Animal testing, as does every controversial topic, has

pros and cons. A few of the pros related to testing products on animals is an advancement in medical related fields, such as medicine and diseases, ensuring products being sold in the market are safe and will not intensively harm someone, for example going blind from face wash, and also performing surgeries to the best of one’s ability.

However there are also cons when it comes to product research with animals. Millions of mammals and rodents are killed, harmed, or die each year from tests and studies completed behind closed doors. Animals such as rabbits become blind due to Draize tests, and others mammals left deaf. Whether we humans are trying to save our own lives, or protect the ones of those with four legs crawling around the forests, the topic regarding testing products on animals will continue to be an ongoing battle between activists and scientists for many years to come.