An Opinion on Why Animals Should Not Be Used for Research and Scientific Testing

When it comes down to using animals from any given biological phyla for subject testing, the fundamental standards of ethics and morals are being raised. This is mainly because they are considered as part of the animal kingdom, just like human beings classified as homo sapiens. Therefore, this controversial subject triggers major debates around the world, initiating several animal cruelty riots, and several non-profit organizations to take actions against such, what many would consider as, unethical practices. It will be almost improbable to please all parties involved in making such decision, especially scientists and the government.

However, when looking at the subject matter from a moral perspective, it is rather reasonable not to opt for alternatives that make animals to be the subject of these practices. Therefore, animals shall not be used for research and scientific testing since the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. First of all, when we look at the subject from a moral perspective, it is inhumane to use any for scientific tests. Several of these animals that undergo these procedures are kept in severe standards. Many of them get injured while being alive and are not taken care of until they die. Moreover, they are all kept in deprive.

This means that they are not given any food or water for the remaining of their lives. In the contrary, some of them are being force-fed, and this leads them to suffer beyond belief for the remaining of their lifep. At the end, they are being killed using cold-hearted methods, such as carbon dioxide asphyxiation, decapitation, and neck breaking. (Thomas, 2008) Besides, even if animals get tested for scientific researches and finding cures as well as drugs, these outcomes are not always safe. Many medication and drugs that have been released lately got banned because of the health problems they caused to their consumers. One example would be Thalidomide, which is a sleeping pill commercially released in the 1950s. Numerous newborn babies had severe deformities because of that product even though its test on animals was successful and without side effects (“Thalidomide”).

Besides, many drugs and medications have not been approved for release due to their unsuccessful lab test. That seems good because they are protecting consumers by preventing these harmful products; however, that useless process shows the selfishness of humans because they are protecting themselves at the expense an innocent animal’s life. Moreover, Paul Furlong, Professor of Clinical Neuroimaging at Aston University (UK), says that “it’s very hard to create an animal model that even equates closely to what we’re trying to achieve in the human.” Many experiments that were done on animals give misleading results; also, the effects that these tests exhibit on animals are not usually the same as those that are shown in humans. This is mainly because lots of biological mechanisms in the human body are completely different from those of the animal bodies.

Consequently, these tests give unreliable and inaccurate outcomes, which could be hazardous for human’s health. In addition, animals that are chosen for testing are usually under stress and fear because they are in a different environment than they are used to, particularly when they attach special materials and devices to their bodies. This definitely contributes to the unreliability of these tests. Last but not least, proponents of animal testing argued that these animals shall be used for these testing in order to come up with new drugs since there are no other alternatives, which is wrong.

Nowadays, the scientific advancement now can simply develop and grow human’s cells in Petri dishes, which can be used to conduct these tests and give more reliable results. Furthermore, there are many humans volunteers that are ready to undergo these tests under some conditions for the sake of scientific development; also, there are now artificial human skins that could be used alternatively in many cosmetic tests (“Animal Testing Alternatives”). In conclusion, animal testing should be banned because it is a deliberate violation of animals’ rights. It is immoral to see animals suffering while we have many others means of testing medicines and drugs. It is inhumane to randomly torturing and executing animals under the pretext of making human life better. Animals are part of our lives and they play many important roles human life; that’s why, we had better take care of them, respect them, and treat them with dignity.