Pro Animal Testing

Standing Up for Those Who without a Voice

Imagine feeling helpless and being exploited by other people, with no voice or control over oneself. Imagine having no rights or protection under the law. This is the life of most animals in animal testing. Animal testing is the use of live animals, excluding humans, in experiments for scientific research. These experiments generally cause the animals pain, distress, harm, and suffering. Furthermore, scientists usually kill the animals after the experiment. Examples of animal testing include forcing dangerous substances into animals’ bodies, exposing animals to radiation, and putting animals in stressful or frightening situations (Cruelty Free International). Many animals in scientific research are

The Animal Welfare Act requires a mandatory body to review the activity of the laboratories is also self-chosen, which causes corruption to occur. Each facility that experiments on animals covered by the Animal Welfare Act must have an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUC) committee, which are self-policing bodies. The IACUC consists of a veterinarian, an experienced scientist in animal research, a professional not involved in scientific research, and a community representative not involved with the company in any way (National Research Council 31-32). In the laboratories, the IACUC reviews proper animal care, approves of animal research procedures that the laboratories conduct to ensure that they are in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act, and trains scientists or staff how to ethically handle animals in the laboratory (Cardon et. al). However, the IACUC can be corrupt or rule in favor of the laboratory. The companies in charge of the laboratories are the providers of the funds, facilities, and personnel of the IACUC. Therefore, the company can sway the IACUC’s ruling in favor of the business because the companies picked these IACUC members to oversee the ethical treatment in the facilities. In addition, the IACUC cannot actually prevent the laboratories from causing suffering in animal experimentation if the scientist deems the experiment as a scientific need. This means that if the experimenters claim that the use of procedures that subject laboratory animals to pain and distress is necessary to further human health, then the IACUC will approve the experiment. This is a problem that needs to be fixed because it allows scientific experimenters to conduct any procedure that will cause suffering to the animals. This needs to change because these committees do not protect the animals, it is only a weak barrier to lessen animal suffering (Rowan).