Animal Testing Essay

There are alternative methods to replace animal testing as it is unreliable and less efficient compared to the alternative method and also, it is inhumane and cruel to keep using the animals as their numbers are getting decreases throughout the world.

Should we do testing on animals? This controversial topic has been debated for years ago. Nowadays, it has been much more controversial in society. Testing on animals has been practiced long ago and is still practiced today. Millions of animals have been killed just for the sake of product testing. They also have feelings and can feel pain just like humans. To use them for the sake of testing and making them go through all those pain is just unfair as they are also living creatures. There are groups of people who realize that animal testing is cruel and inhumane and that animals have rights too. Organizations like People for Ethical Treatment of Animals or PETA have been exposing and discouraging the support of the companies or any parties that still use animal testing for the tests of their products before selling them all over the country or even throughout the world. In this globalization era, to do testing on animals just because we want to test the effectiveness of the product is irrelevant as other options can replace this violent act; rather than just focusing on this method only as of the sole way. A variety of different arguments have been put forward regarding this issue. Supporters of animal testing propose that this method has helped to discover cures for sickness in humans and sometimes even in animals for many years. This method involves using different species of animals in experiments and developmental procedures to determine the toxicity, dosing, and effectiveness of test drugs before proceeding to human clinical trials. They also mention that using humans for testing is more unethical compared to animals. Thus, using animals to test the level of success and safety of the product is the best way that can be done. Although it is proven that animal testing has helped humans in many aspects such as medicine; however, the use of animals in testing laboratories should be stopped because there are alternative methods to replace it as it is unreliable and less efficient compared to the alternative method and also, it is inhumane and cruel to keep using the animals as their numbers are getting decreases throughout the world.

The opposition claimed that there is no other alternative to test on a living, whole-body system other than testing it on animals. The human body is a unique creation as it is immensely complex and animals are a better substitute than computer models. As both are living creatures, a basic test using the cells can be done easily. This is way better than using the alternatives to animal testing as it relies so much on the computer; a non-living thing to do the testing. However, in this evolving world, there are alternative testing methods that exist nowadays that can replace the need of using animals. Scientists have found and developed alternative methods to study human diseases or to test the effectiveness of products that are relevant to humans without the involvement of animal usage. These alternative methods use human cells and tissues, studies on volunteers (human), applying technological advancement in modeling techniques, and many more. They usually consume a shorter time and also a smaller amount of money needed compared to animal testing. An alternative method such as in vitro testing method helps in monitoring the effectiveness of cosmetics. This method directly uses human cells and tissues where the implementation of the active ingredients on the cellular and molecular level in human is valid compared to animal testing because the things that work on animals does not necessarily work to humans as well. The time needed to observe the effectiveness of products is faster than animal testing as it only needs a few days while animal testing needs months. Also, because it does not involve animals, the ethical benefits can be seen from this alternative method (Bioalternatives, n.d.).

Another claim made by the opposition on animal testing is that it contributes to life-saving cures and treatments. Many important discoveries in the medical field are reported from direct studies on animals. This creature helps to give hope to many patients with life-threatening diseases such as cancers, tuberculosis, cardiac valve substitutes, and many more. However, animal testing is cruel and inhumane. Animals are treated in bad ways because usually, it will cause them to suffer throughout the tests. They were harmed in so many ways; burned, starved, etc. At the end of these painful and torturing tests, they will be killed or even let to be alive but with no medicines given to them. According to Humane Society InternationalGlobal (2012), the entire process of animal testing can cause harm to animals physically and psychologically. Food and water restriction, administering wounds and heat to the animals to test their healing mechanisms, letting them go through pain to study their physiology and the effectiveness of the drugs as treatment, exposing chemicals to them to test the toxicity level of the drugs and also the worst one, killing them by using carbon dioxide to make them suffocated and many other killing courses of actions, are the examples of the frequent modus operandi of the animal testing.

In conclusion, animal testing needs to be banned as it is unethical and produces unpromising results which may harm human health if they consume the product that has been tested for its effectiveness by using animal testing it is not the only way to do testing on the products as other preferences can be conducted. There are alternative methods that are more efficient, reliable and ethical compared to the animal testing method as the alternatives do not involve the sacrification of animals throughout the process which can preserve their populations and avoid extinctions. Although some people believe that animal testing contributes to life-saving cures and treatments for many years, and it is more immoral to use humans for testing, the alternative method is a better way that can replace the need of using animal testing as it is barbarous and immoral to keep using the animals. Also, alternative methods only require human cells and tissues and not the whole body compared to animal testing which is conducted using the whole parts of animals’ bodies. Thus, animal testing should be banned because it is proven that it has caused a lot of torture and kills unguilty animals. To add on, the number of animals being sacrificed is still not capable to show the best result on the effectiveness of the products showing that it is unreliable and undependable to keep using animals as a standard technique to test the level of success and safeness of the product. The use of alternative methods needs to be optimized and research and development for these preferences need to be held regularly to produce supreme results at the end of the tests.