Opposing Viewpoints: Animal Experimentation

Animal experimentation is a type of animal abuse that has created controversy over the years. The first article, Medical Testing on Animal Is Cruel and Unnecessary, talks about how animal experimentation should not be performed because it does not help human health advancement. They make the argument that animals and humans do not have the same anatomy, so all of the research and findings are not accurate. The author of this article informs us how the disease is literally injected in to the animal so scientists can then cure it; however, the method used to cure the disease on the animal might not be as effective on a human. The animal was perfectly fine before they made it sick, what is the need for this? So they can cure a rat and then try to cure a human using the exact same procedure? The author tell us, "Through their taxes, charitable donations, and purchases of lottery tickets and consumer products, members of the public are ultimately the ones who—knowingly or unknowingly—fund animal experimentation"(People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, 2014). People all over the country are contributing to this abuse and they don't even know it.

The second article, Medical Research Involving Animals Is Humane and Necessary, talks about how animals help us gather information that will be useful in medicine for both animals and humans. The author of this article makes the argument that animals and humans share sufficient DNA to compare them. They say that there is always a veterinarian during the process to make sure everything goes well, and that MOST methods are not painful. Most is not all, so what about the painful methods? The author ends the article by saying that computers can only give us information that has already been researched (Americans for Medical Progress, 2014). Even though this is true, why can't they try to use other methods to get their information? There are many tests and programs out there that can contribute to research.

Both of these articles address the question of whether Animal Experimentation is necessary. In my opinion, I do not think animal experimentation should be performed for human research because animals and humans are not the same, so why are we killing millions of animals if the experiments fail?  Scientists should find other alternatives that do not require them to harm animals at all.


SOURCES:

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "Medical Testing on Animals Is Cruel and      Unnecessary." Medical Testing. Ed. Noël Merino. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2014. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Animal Experiments: Overview." 2012. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.

Americans for Medical Progress. "Medical Research Involving Animals Is Humane and Necessary." Medical Testing. Ed. Noël Merino. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2014. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Animal Research FAQ: The Top 10 Questions." 2012. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.