Sunday, May 9, 2010

Do we need Animal testing?

#3

Is animal testing really necessary? Is there any alternative to testing products on innocent animals? How many products are still tested on animals today? Can animal testing actually benefit humans? These are a few of the frequently asked questions by everyday people. Before these questions can be answered people need to look at the advantages and disadvantages of experimental testing of animals.

The cost of animal testing is extremely high, every animal must have food, housing, and be cared for. In the year 1999 over 1.7 million animals were tested on. The types of products that they use to test on animals are cosmetics, personal care products, medicinal products, and household cleaners. One of the arguments against animal testing is that harming or killing animals just to test makeup or household cleaners is going too far. To test these products they will rub the products in the animal’s eyes or on shaved skin to see how they react. Yet, some research has proven that these tests are not always accurate. Tests have shown that some animals will act differently under stress, and being in and unnatural environment causes a great deal of stress. Some sciences suggest that the product being tested may have different effects in the animals as they would in a human being. The types of animals these harmful and useless products are tested on are rats, mice, hamsters, gerbils, birds, dog, fish, rabbits, cats, sometimes monkeys and other primates. One of the major disadvantages of animal testing is the fact that there is other ways to test these products. One new method is called “EpiDerm” or “EPISKIN”. These new ways are cultures of human skin cells, which will replace the testing on the skin of rabbits.

If animal testing is still being used there must be some important advantages on its side. Without the testing on animals we would not have any medication to cure us. The scientists usually test the products on the animals when they think they may have found a cure for a certain disease. The test will tell them if it actually works and let them know if they need to get approval for the drug. Some people will argue the fact that the animals they use in the lab are produced just for experimental purposes. For example they use rats because rats have a very large litter of 10-12 babies, which they use only the babies for the testing.

People say the cost is too must, but others debate isn’t it worth your health and safety. Nobody can put a price on finding the cure to cancer, or AIDS.
Everybody has their own opinion on the topic of animal testing. There are many advantages and disadvantages to testing on animals; for example medical uses vs. the extreme cruelty and killings to the innocent animals. As far as animal testing goes in Canada it is not illegal and is regulated by authorities. The benefit of animal testing is too important to the scientists to stop the testing.

References

(2005), Global Action Network, What’s wrong with testing on animals? http://www.gan.ca/lifestyle/animal+testing/index.en.html

(2000-2010), About Animal Testing, Using Animals For Testing: Pro’s versus Con’s http://www.aboutanimaltesting.co.uk/using-animals-testing-pros-versus-cons.html

Dana BIdnall (2005), Alive Publishing Group, Animal Testing
http://www.alive.com/6261a15a2.php?subject_bread_cramb=170

Peta Media Center, Government-Required Animal Testing : Overview http://www.peta.org/MC/factsheet_display.asp?ID=125

4 comments:

  1. Very good post. I like how you talk about the advantages and disadvantages of animal testing and list both the medical and cruelty points of views. One question that I have is how much does EpiDerm or EPISKIN cost to perform? Are they more expensive than animal testing? I don't think buisness men care what pain and agony they are imposing on innocent animals. They just want their products out on the shelf quickly and cheaply as possible. I myself hate to see innocent animals being tested on, after all they are living creatures and also feel pain. But products do need to be tested, or else we would feel the pain and agony that the poor animals feel. What do you think? Do you think animal testing is creul or usefull?

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  2. #14
    Even though animal testing benefits us in certain ways, I feel that animal testing is not necessary.
    Even though we test certain products and medicines on these animals, how are we to know if that certain product will react the same on us? Humans may have some similarities to animals but they also have many differences as well.
    If the testing is not always accurate then something that is harmless to say, a rat, could end up being harmful to humans.
    There are other options which can help test products opposed to using innocent animals just for our benefit. Why is it that animal cruelty is illegal, yet animal testing is not? It must rest on the one fact that it benefits humans and our wants. It doesnt help in any other aspects, other than finding cures and making cosmetics, animal testing is just paying millions to harm animals.

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  3. #4
    Very good points. Its good how you didn’t choose one side, but instead you stated pros and cons to animal testing. In my opinion, I feel that animal testing is not wrong. If there was no animal testing there would be no medicine, cures to simple sicknesses, or personal and household products we use on a daily basis. Animal testing is no worse than putting hundreds or thousands of cows in a pen, feeding them until they are as fat as they can get or until they can’t move anymore, then shipping them off to get slaughtered so that we have food. An other example is stuffing chickens in a one foot by one foot cage so you can eat their eggs. Yes, sometimes animals are harmed, but they are also harmed in the wild all the time. I guess the only question is, would you rather test on animals, or on people?

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