English paper #2 Animal Testing

Time for Change
The use of animal testing is not only cruel it is completely unethical. What rights do we have as human beings to occur prolonged and painful tests on animals? We don’t have that right. There are some outcomes that do benefit medicine, but at the same time there is not enough to outweigh the benefits. With animal testing there also comes animal abuse. There is no way to really show how much of these experiments on animals turn out to be abuse, but there are some horrifying instances where these cases have been brought to the publics attention. Its time for a change!
“The history of animal testing can be dated back as early as the third and fourth centuries BC” (Wikipedia). Aristotle and Erasistratus were the first to perform experiments on animals. In the 1880’s Louis Posteur gave sheep antrax to show the public the germ throry of medicine (Wikipedia). Dogs were given insulin in 1922 and changed the treatments of diabetes forever. In more recent times there was a big break through with cloning with a sheep named Dolly, which was a first. Throughout the decades there have been numerous break throughs medically through the testing of animals. Another important topic many people in favor for animal testing tend to look over which are the technicalities. Animals are all not genetically like us with our organs and skin tissues, some of the tests preformed on animals may not be as accurate as one would hope it to be. An example is “aspirin is a teratogen when given to certain animals in high doses, but there is conflicting evidence regarding its effect on human embryos” (Wikipedia). So in other words we can react much differently to medicines than animals that were tested with the same product.
There are many different types of tests preformed on animals. There are medical/laboratory tests which tests different medicines that could help with a certain disease/illness. There is also cosmetic testing which tests the cosmetic products to see if they are harmful in any way to the public. Finally there are safety tests which can be used to see if products that are ingested or spread upon skin what the effects will be. While a lot of these tests seem great in theory one has to also look and see that these animals are also being abused in harsh ways. One example was a test conducted upon monkeys. The test was to induce a stroke upon these monkeys to see how their motor functions would turn out. The way these scientists would induce the monkey would be sawing off the tops of their heads and wait for the stroke to begin. Then by the end of the day there were locked in cages alone with out water or food and no human contact for fifteen hours. Then the staff would return and test the monkey to see how their motor functions would react. Another harmful test for cosmetics would be the draize tests preformed on rabbits. They would their eyes, usually resulting in the rabbits going blind and/or eye decay (animalcruelty.com). Is it really fair for the animals that have no voice to be put through these types of agony?
It is time for changes inside the world of animal testing! There are too many animals that have been killed and abused for the sake of us. The ratios of people who agree with animal testing have dramatically gone down since the 1940’s. In 1949 at least eighty five percent of the population of America was for animal testing. In 1990 less than fifty percent of the population is in favor for animal testing (Corthran,14). People are now starting to realize that animal testing may not be the only solution to testing product. We have the luxury of using technology to test different products. There may be some flaws in the system but there will not be any more flaws than testing animals (stopanimaltesting.com). Its time to save the lives of animals and give them the voice they deserve. Right now we are their voice so its time we make an effort and save them.
I have high hopes for the future of animal testing. I am hopeful that people will see how the animals are treated while being tested and realize its not fair for any living creature to be put through that. The use of animal testing is not only cruel it is completely unethical. Now I feel people are beginning to see the viewpoints of animal activists. The only way to spread the word of animal testing is sharing and discussing these horrific situations. I strongly feel by spreading the truth of what happens in animal testing that a great change will come.