For a very long time animals have been used for experimentation in the medical and cosmetic fields . This research led scientists to discover biological processes and in the process gain knowledge and understanding of how to improve the quality of human life. Although animal experimentation in scientific fields occur widely, it has become an ethical issue. The legality of such experiments and the ethics behind it has been strongly challenged by animal rights activists. This paper presents different arguments for and against the use of animals for research purposes.
Recently we have seen a drastic drop in the population of animals worldwide. Lets have a look two of the most used animals …show more content…
This in turn helps to improve the quality of life for both animals and humans. Furthermore proponents of experimentation insist that animals such as cows (90%), mice (99%) and chimpanzees (99.4%) have genes similar to those of humans. (Percentage as indicated in brackets). Therefor they claim that because these animals have the same organs and nerve systems as humans effects of drugs, their safety and effectiveness can be tested before it is cleared for human use. They quickly refer to drug association laws that require all prescription medication to be tested on animals before it is put on the market for human use. Doing these tests on animals ensure that any dangers with prescription drugs occut in the animals. Thus avoiding such dangers in humans. These pro-animal-experimentation people value the life of humans more than that of animals.
Secondly they deny that animals have rights as human beings. They claim that humans have the ability to reason and animals not. And that’s why animals have no rights in their eyes. They also believe that animals cannot defend themselves intelligently or make a moral claim. Additionally these proponents maintain that animals do not respect humans' rights. And thus it is justified to use them for …show more content…
Jarrod Bailey wrote in his 2010 report on research using HIV treatment and cures on chimpanzees that it did not provide any results. Although the DNA of chimpanzees are about 99.4% the same than humans’ DNA they do not develop AIDS when infected with HIV. So that experiment was useless. The opponents also claim that even other animals with similar DNA to humans might not react the same than humans. And therefore such experiments are useless and unreliable with human use in mind. This is why opponents to animal research strongly believe that it is wrong to continue subjecting animals to pain and suffering in the name of