The exploitation of animals in experimentation isn’t a new issue because it could be traced back to the fourth century BC when Aristotle and his contemporaries used to perform experiments on animals. Besides, in the twelfth century, the Arab physician Avanzoar used animals to test his new surgery techniques before performing them on humans. Today, due to the advancement of the medical field, physicians rely excessively on animal testing. However, some organizations such as “PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)” stand out against animal testing alleging that it harms animals and calling for it to be outlawed.
I believe that animal testing shouldn’t be banned for several reasons (“Animal Experimentation”)1 The opponents claim that animals are susceptible to pain, and during the tests, animals are inflicted with severe injuries, and most of them die. However, that isn’t true because before physicians test drugs on animals, they test them on cells first, and they only use them on animals if they pass the cell test. Moreover, they inject the animals with adequate anesthesia to mitigate their pains during the test. In addition, the test is performed by experts who make sure to minimize the suffering of the animals by great extent.
(“Animal Research Pros and Cons”)2 Animal testing plays a pivotal role in medical research and without it, combating critical diseases is futile. Thanks to animal testing, vaccines have been developed for deadly disease such as Hepatitis B, Herpes Simplex, rabies, Polio, mumps, malaria, and rejection of organ transplantation. Furthermore, if the experimentation on animals were banned, techniques like bypass surgeries, organ transplants, and heart surgeries wouldn’t be achieved, and many humans would perish. The reason behind its importance is because some animals’ body system resembles humans’ to certain extent.
For example, the genes of chimpanzees and monkeys are similar to humans’ by 99%, so testing on such species ensures physicians that the new medicines or drugs will be of benefits to mankind. (“Animal Testing Pros”)3 Moreover, it cannot be afforded to outlaw animal experimentation for many reasons. First, it will backfire on us because if physicians don’t test medical products and medicines on animals, they will be compelled to test them on humans, and that could spell disaster and be a quite fatal. Second, no one would volunteer for such experimentations, for nobody would like to be a testing subject in a laboratory.
In addition, doctors would have to use these medicines on patients which might deteriorate their health even further or cause immediate death. Furthermore, that could prompt another problem which is equality crisis amid humans which might result in oppression of people from the lower class of the society. (“Animal Testing Pros”)4 To sum up, animal testing shouldn’t be blacklisted for many reasons: there is no other alternative to test on. It helps scientists to discern the effectiveness of drugs before using them on humans.
It helps developing vaccines for serious diseases and saving human lives. I believe that if the opponents of animal experimentation have one member of their families sick with a life-threatening disease, they will forsake their belief and agree to sacrifice the lives of several animals in order to save their beloved person. My belief is that human lives come first and have the priority. If my mother’s life were in danger, and animal testing is what it takes to save her, I wouldn’t mind how many animals would be used to find her cure.
