Animal Testing Arguments

Scientific innovation is based on trial and error. Experiment upon experiment is conducted in order to ensure that a certain hypothesis or treatment is valid or safe. However, there is a growing controversy behind the morality of certain types of testing; especially on animals. Scientists have been conducting experiments on animals for centuries, which has resulted in many medical advances that would have otherwise taken much longer to realize. Consequently though, a great multitude of people has begun to advocate for animal rights in this area. They believe that certain restrictions should be set in place to limit the amount of suffering animals go through or to do away with testing on them all together. Several of these advocates claim that

They hold that “Pain is an intrinsic evil, and any action that causes pain to another creature is simply not morally permissible” (Source B). “[Animals in laboratories] are almost always subjected to isolation, depression, and anxiety” (Source F). These people believe that animal research is an aberration and should be ended immediately. While there does lie credibility in that animals should not forcibly be made to suffer, that does not mean that the solution is to get rid of animal research completely. There is reasonable logic as to why scientists prefer this method above all others. “If there were good alternatives to animals that worked better or as well, for less money and hassle, scientists would use them” (Source

Countless vaccines have been developed to counter diseases such as polio, chicken pox, and other diseases which used to claim thousands of lives. This was made possible though, by testing different methods and techniques on animals, in order to make sure that it would be safe for humans. The fact cannot be refuted that using animals for medical research has saved a vast amount of human lives. “If all animal experimentation were stopped, the slowdown would be real and the cost would be high… A delay in developing a vaccine [for Malaria] by just one month would kill 225,000 people” (Source D). There comes a point in which it is justified for “animals to be sacrificed for the cause of humanity” (Source