Should animals be used for animal testing?

Every year millions of animals die because of animal testing. Animals undergo painful
suffering or death for scientific research into the effects of drugs, food additives, cosmetic
and other chemical products. Is animal testing really necessary? In this essay we will discuss
on weather animal testing is necessary.
I have 3 claims to support on why animals should not be used for animal testing. First, animal
testing is cruel and inhumane. According to Humane Society International, most animals are
killed at the end of an experiment, but some maybe re-used in subsequent experiments. Some
of the common cruel and inhuman procedures are, forcing the animals to chemicals exposures
in toxicity, which includes oral force-feeding, forced inhalation, skin or injection into
abdomen, muscle, and more (Humane Society International, 2015). Secondly, there are other
alternative to animal testing. The alternative to animal testing is called in vitro testing, where
they study cell cultures in a petri dish which can produce more relevant results than animal
testing because human cells can be used (Advocacy for Animals, 2015). The toxicity test in
animals can be replaced by in vitro techniques called LD50 test. Another test called IC50 test
is useful for comparing the toxicity of chemicals in human cells and thus produces data that
are more relevant to humans than an LD50 value obtained from animals. (Advocacy for
Animals, 2015). Thirdly, animal testing may mislead researchers into ignoring potential cures
and treatments. For example, some chemicals that are harmful to animals prove valuable
when used by humans. Aspirin for example is dangerous for some animals and Fk-506
(tacrolimus), which is used to lower the risk of organ transplant rejection, was almost
shelved because of animal test results, according to neurologist Ayasha Aktar, MD, MPH
( Animal Testing, 2015).
There are also 3 counter claims on why animals should be used for animal testing. First,
many life-saving cures and treatments are found because of animal testing. In the last 100
years nearly every medical breakthrough has resulted directly from research using animals.
Insulin was discovered in an experiment in which dogs has their pancreases removed, insulin
is very critical to saving lives of people with diabetic (Anon, 2015). Secondly, animals must
be used in cases when ethical considerations prevent the use of human subjects. The lives of
human volunteer should not be put in danger when testing medicines for potential toxicity as
that would be unethical. Thirdly, animals themselves benefit from the results of animal
testing. Millions of animals would have died from many diseases if vaccines were not tested
on animals. Animal testing has also saved endangered species from extinction for example
the black-footed ferret.
One of the points of not using animal testing because there are other alternative to animal
testing can be rebutted, because animal testing needs to be used to help develop cures to save
endangered species from extinction. One of the points of animals must be used in cases when
ethical considerations prevent the use of human subjects can be rebutted, because in vitro
testing can be used and that has more accurate results than in animal testing.
All in all, it can be said that using animals for medical research is ethical a long as it
contributes to scientific development and helps scientists find ways to improve human health

and find cures for diseases for both human and animals. And this practice is only acceptable
on the condition that necessary pains are taken and animals are treated humanely and not
tortured.

Reference.
Humane Society International. 2015 [ONLINE]
Available at: http://www.hsi.org/campaigns/end_animal_testing/qa/about.html. [Accessed 01
February 2015].
Advocacy for Animals, 2015 Scientific Alternatives to Animal Testing | [ONLINE]
Available at: http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2007/09/scientific-alternativesto-animal-testing-a-progress-report/. [Accessed 08 February 2015].
Animal Testing, 2015 [ONLINE] Available at: http://animal-testing.procon.org/. [Accessed
01 February 2015].
Anon, 2015. The Discovery of Insulin. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/insulin/discovery-insulin.html. [Accessed 01
February 2015].