One of the most hotly debated topics in the scientific community that has been raging on for decades is whether or not animals, such as rats, mice, dogs, guinea pigs, monkeys, etc., should be used for scientific research purposes. According to Murnaghan, typically “animals may receive anesthesia to control or eliminate pain they could potentially experience” (Murnaghan, 2018). Animals that are relatively healthy and experimented on with minimal invasiveness are usually used again for testing purposes, and animals that are considered sick or have surgical procedures that remove tissues or organs may be euthanized (Murnaghan, 2018). Many of the animals used for testing purposes are bred in captivity, which would make releasing these animals into …show more content…
One of the earliest government regulations on the treatment of animals is embodied in the Animal Welfare Act of 1966, originally “the AWA was designed to control pet breeding and sale practices; it was passed, in part, as a result of public outcry about the mistreatment of dogs sold to laboratories” (Latham, 2012). While several amendments have been made to broaden the protection of animals (specifically warm-blooded animals) in several settings, animals, such as rats, mice, and birds, were eventually excluded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In an interview conducted by Daniel Engber, a former department official described the rationale behind the exclusion of rats, mice, and birds, “We couldn’t use the National Guard to make all of these inspections. We didn’t have the force” (Engber, 2016). While the AWA has protected animals, such as dogs, cats, monkeys, guinea pigs, etc., from being subjected to experiments that induce abuse and are deemed painful it has left a gray area for rats and …show more content…
There are beneficial results or outcomes that stem from animal research, some of these may include, the ability to help researchers discover effective drug treatments for various diseases that plague humans, due to the introduction of these drugs or treatments stemming from animal testing human health is improved, and animals can also test whether certain drugs are safe for possible human use (Murnaghan, 2018). While the benefits that I listed have been genuinely helpful for improving human health and lifestyle, the abuse that animals are subjected to as a result of obtaining these research findings has been proven too costly and detrimental to continue their use in research. The weaknesses surrounding animal testing has increasingly gained attention and rightfully so, some of the valid questions include the validity and effectiveness of translating animal research results to humans, the detrimental effects that the laboratory and other environmental variables have on the results of the study, differences