Many folks have the assumption that animal testing involves applying makeup on a monkey with a makeup brush. Or maybe just a harmless experiment on a bunny for intended research use. Right? Wrong. In reality, there tends to be a misunderstanding of what the process of animal testing entails. Animal testing is legally required for many of the products we use every day; and for every new pesticide tested, approximately 10,000 animal deaths take place. Animal experimentation has contributed to numerous important scientific discoveries and breakthroughs such as, “many antibiotics, insulin therapy for diabetes, modern anesthesia, vaccines for whooping cough and other diseases, the use of lithium in mental health treatments, and the discovery of hormones” (Gale 2021). However, it is important to analyze the ethical lines that are being crossed and question how far society is willing to turn a blind eye for the abuse of animals to further medical research.
The use of animals in experiments is not only cruel but also has been proven to be ineffective. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 92% of drugs that are shown to be safe and effective in animals often fail in human trials. The anatomy of humans versus animals differ far too much from one another for results to be reliable. For example, animals metabolize, absorb, and eliminate substances differently than humans do. Consequently, animals will react differently than humans towards a substance. According to Richard Klausner, former director of the National Cancer Institute, he states, “The history of cancer research has been the history of curing mice for cancer in the mouse. We have cured mice of cancer and it simply did not work on humans.” Why is society continuously accepting the inhumane treatment of animals through testing when its ineffectiveness has been confirmed?
Along with animal testing being unsuccessful, the process itself tends to be extremely long and strenuous for the animal. “Imagine a syringe being forced down your throat to inject a chemical into your stomach, or being restrained and forced to breathe sickening vapours for hours. That’s the cruel reality of animal testing for millions of mice, rabbits, dogs and other animals worldwide,” Humane Society International states. Furthermore, most animals involved in research are euthanized at the termination of scientists’ experiments. Additionally, animals do not have the ability to consent in research participation. However, we as a society have found reasoning in the inability to consent as an excuse to permit harmful experiments on the less protected. Where do we draw the boundary line?
“We don't smoke. We don't drive. We don't wear makeup or perfume. We don't use paint. We don't drink alcohol. We don't drop bombs. We don't take drugs. Just because you do, why should we suffer?” -animals
J. David Jentsch, a neuroscientist studying addiction in the psychology department at the University of California, Los Angeles, remains a loyal advocate for the continuation of animal experimentation. He states, “You can study the pieces in rodents, but how the building blocks work together in complex functions requires a primate model.”, speaking his reasoning behind using primates as opposed to rodents in his experiments in the long term. While there have also been laws set in place stating to protect animals such as the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) since 1966, the idea around animal alternatives has been tested to create new methods that can replace the need for animals. However, roughly 8 percent of animals were experimented on with no measures taken to ensure pain reduction and 40 percent do not report using an anesthesia (USDA Animal Usage Summary Report). Michael Bachelor, Senior scientists and product manager at biotech company MatTek stated, “We can now create a model from human skin cells — keratinocytes- and produce normal skin or even a model that mimics skin disease like psoriasis” (Britannica). If new methods are being practiced as opposed to animal experimentation, why are we still using primates, whose social behavior and feelings have been proven to resemble humans?
The types of alternative methods have been separated into three categories: In chemico: experiments performed on biological molecules, in silico: experiments performed by computing custom platforms or hardware, and in vitro: experiments performed outside of the body (National Institute of Environmental Health Science). In addition, its effectiveness has proven itself over the years with the life threatening diseases still remaining present. Furthermore, the process of animal testing is shown to be very cruel. In conclusion, the inhumane act of animal testing has become outdated and change needs to progress in big name corporations.
Bibliography
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Collier, Lorna. “Defending Animal Research” American Psychological Association, August 2014.Defending animal research (apa.org)
Stanford Medicine. “Why Animal Research?” Animal Research at Sanford. Why Animal Research? | Animal Research at Stanford | Stanford Medicine
Liou, Stephanie. “The Ethics of Animal Experimentation” Huntington’s Outreach Project For Education, At Sanford, July 6, 2010. The Ethics of Animal Experimentation — HOPES Huntington’s Disease (stanford.edu)
McCarthur, Jooanne. “Animal Testing”. Humane Society International Animal Testing — Humane Society International (hsi.org)
Cruelty Free International. “Levels of Animal Suffering Continue to be Poorly Reported” Cruelty Free International, May 7, 2024. Levels of animal suffering continue to be poorly reported | Cruelty Free International
“Animal Experimentation.” Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2021. Scholarly Articles on Animal Experimentation: History, Legislation & Activism (gale.com)
Sweaters, Doortje. “A History of Regulatory Animal Testing: What can we Learn?” Sage Journals, August 19, 2022. Scholarly Articles on Animal Experimentation: History, Legislation & Activism (gale.com)
