Why Animal Testing is Wrong
Animal testing is different types of procedures done on animals to find out if a type of medication or cosmetic is safe to use on humans. Over 100 million animals are tested on each year. While there are alternatives to animal testing, it can save a human life, but puts animals through misery and possibly death.
Millions of animals including rabbits, cats, mice, and dogs are suffering due to testing for cosmetics and medications. According to the article “About Animal Testing” from Human Society International, animal testing is a process done on different types of animals to provide results on if certain medication or cosmetics are safe to use on humans. These tests include “oral force feeding, forced inhalation” as well as “exposure to drugs, chemicals or infectious disease at levels that cause illness, pain and distress, or death” (“About Animal Testing”). According to Top Pro & Con Arguments by Mieke Louwe, there are tests like “The Draize eye test” which was “used by companies to evaluate irritation caused by shampoos and other products” this test “involves rabbits being incapacitated in stocks with their eyelids held open by clips, sometimes for multiple days, so they cannot blink away the products being tested.” Even though a drug passes the test that is done on an animal does not mean that it is safe to be used on a human. For example, in the 1950s 10,000 babies had been “born with severe deformities” due to the “sleeping pill thalidomide” that had been tested on animals before and had passed the test (Louwe). After the babies died, they did more tests on “pregnant mice, rats, guinea pigs, cats, and hamsters” which did not show any signs of “birth defects unless the drug was administered at extremely high doses” (Louwe). Even though there is so much cruelty in experimenting on these animals, there are also benefits in continuing the testing. Experimenting on animals has led to treatments and cures that help save human and animal lives everyday. …show more content…
For example, there has been tests done on dogs where they take their pancreas out which helped to discover insulin which is “critical to saving lives of diabetics” (“About Animal Testing”). Without this testing done insulin or other types of medication that help save lives everyday could have never been discovered. While animals are very different than humans they can also be similar. All mammals have organs that are the same, including humans. “Chimpanzees share 99% of their DNA with humans, and mice are 98% genetically similar to humans” (Louwe). As research shows testing on animals helps humans it also can help benefit themselves. If animal testing was never a thing a lot of animals would have died from “rabies, distemper, feline leukemia, infectious hepatitis virus, tetanus, anthrax, and canine parvo virus” (Louwe). Certain products need to be tested on animals to make sure that they are safe to use. “American women use an average of 12 personal care products per day, so product safety is of great importance” (Louwe). As there are all these positive sides of animal testing, there is still the fact that these animals are being tortured and there are other things scientists can do instead. Testing on animals is not the only choice there is to find out if cosmetics or medications are safe. Using human cells in
Animal testing is different types of procedures done on animals to find out if a type of medication or cosmetic is safe to use on humans. Over 100 million animals are tested on each year. While there are alternatives to animal testing, it can save a human life, but puts animals through misery and possibly death.
Millions of animals including rabbits, cats, mice, and dogs are suffering due to testing for cosmetics and medications. According to the article “About Animal Testing” from Human Society International, animal testing is a process done on different types of animals to provide results on if certain medication or cosmetics are safe to use on humans. These tests include “oral force feeding, forced inhalation” as well as “exposure to drugs, chemicals or infectious disease at levels that cause illness, pain and distress, or death” (“About Animal Testing”). According to Top Pro & Con Arguments by Mieke Louwe, there are tests like “The Draize eye test” which was “used by companies to evaluate irritation caused by shampoos and other products” this test “involves rabbits being incapacitated in stocks with their eyelids held open by clips, sometimes for multiple days, so they cannot blink away the products being tested.” Even though a drug passes the test that is done on an animal does not mean that it is safe to be used on a human. For example, in the 1950s 10,000 babies had been “born with severe deformities” due to the “sleeping pill thalidomide” that had been tested on animals before and had passed the test (Louwe). After the babies died, they did more tests on “pregnant mice, rats, guinea pigs, cats, and hamsters” which did not show any signs of “birth defects unless the drug was administered at extremely high doses” (Louwe). Even though there is so much cruelty in experimenting on these animals, there are also benefits in continuing the testing. Experimenting on animals has led to treatments and cures that help save human and animal lives everyday. …show more content…
For example, there has been tests done on dogs where they take their pancreas out which helped to discover insulin which is “critical to saving lives of diabetics” (“About Animal Testing”). Without this testing done insulin or other types of medication that help save lives everyday could have never been discovered. While animals are very different than humans they can also be similar. All mammals have organs that are the same, including humans. “Chimpanzees share 99% of their DNA with humans, and mice are 98% genetically similar to humans” (Louwe). As research shows testing on animals helps humans it also can help benefit themselves. If animal testing was never a thing a lot of animals would have died from “rabies, distemper, feline leukemia, infectious hepatitis virus, tetanus, anthrax, and canine parvo virus” (Louwe). Certain products need to be tested on animals to make sure that they are safe to use. “American women use an average of 12 personal care products per day, so product safety is of great importance” (Louwe). As there are all these positive sides of animal testing, there is still the fact that these animals are being tortured and there are other things scientists can do instead. Testing on animals is not the only choice there is to find out if cosmetics or medications are safe. Using human cells in