Proompt Post Week Two (#7) Necessary and Unusual Punishment: The Pros and Cons of Animal Biological Tests

By Cameron O. 
   
            There are two sides to every story, especially when the public can feel so strongly about their opinions. When discussing the use of animal testing to find cures, test diseases, or look at effects of scientific studies there is a fine line between people who think it is worth testing on the animals before people, and the other side which believe that it is cruel punishment to bread animals to be tested on. Using animal-testing.procon.org I was able to have a clear set of reasons both sides view the topic so strongly. No matter what side you choose to be a part of it does not hurt to get educated on the matter.

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                 The first thing I want to cover is the percentage and numbers behind how many animals are tested on. Every year more than one hundred million animals are tested on. To the left side of this page is a pie chart of the percentages behind that number to look more in depth at the individual animals in that bracket. The top three animals include mice, rats and fish that together make up a total of 86% of all animals tested on. Majority of the time these animals are born and raised to be tested on, a majority do die or have long lasting side effects cause from these tests.

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          With these numbers in your face we might as well go over the three main reasons that animal testing is controversial starting with the cons of the topic. The main reasons why people are so strongly against animal testing include; "Animal testing is cruel and inhumane", "alternative testing methods now exist that can replace the need for animals", and finally "animals are very different from human beings and therefore make poor test subjects". These three reasons are very strong, we will start off from the top and work our way to the bottom. "Animal testing is cruel and inhumane", okay, well how can we see this? If you search up anything regarding animal testing, you are sure to find many images of all the pain and suffering that these animals have to go through so we can test out our treatments. Next up is “alternative testing methods now exist that can replace the need for animals”. Today, science has gone so far forward as to be able to conduct these same tests that use up animal lives by studying the same tests "in glass testing, such as studying cell cell cultures in a petri dish, [which] can produce more relevant results than animal testing because human cells can be used." Finally, "animals are very different from human beings and therefore make poor test subjects". This one I do not think I have to describe so much, When you look at the chart above, these animals are not human, they are nothing like us, so not all tests are able to pull results on these animals that they will later see in humans as well.

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                Now switching to the three main pros of testing on animals which include; "Animal testing has contributed to many life-saving cures and treatments", "There is no adequate alternative to testing on a living, whole-body system", "Animals are appropriate research subjects because they are similar to human beings in many ways". Again we will look at these in a descending order. First up, "Animal testing has contributed to many life-saving cures and treatments". “The California Biomedical Research Association states that nearly every medical breakthrough in the last 100 years has resulted directly from research using animals.” These tests have saved hundreds of thousands of human lives throughout these 100 years. So without a doubt it shows that it isn’t for nothing. Second up is "There is no adequate alternative to testing on a living, whole-body system" which counters the cons by being summed up in just a sentence: “Studying cell cultures in a petri dish, while sometimes useful, does not provide the opportunity to study interrelated processes occurring in the central nervous system, endocrine system, and immune system”. The final topic we will discuss today is “Animals are appropriate research subjects because they are similar to human beings in many ways”. One of the main ways that they are similar is based on the fact that things like mice are 98% genetically similar to humans which is a fact that shows how important and accurate it can be to test mice.

               No matter what side you chose to stand on and fight for, you need to be aware of what exactly you are standing for. By visiting animal-testing.procon.org you can fully plunge into the controversial subject of animal testing and become more involved in the argument.