The Pros And Cons Of Animal Experimentation

Supporters of animal experimentation argue in favor of the important role testing on animals plays to medical advancement. Advancements in the treatments of many diseases have occurred thanks to animal experimentation, including “...understanding the pathogenesis of periodontitis. This new information has been made from… animal experiments… some cases are directly applicable for the problems of treating humans with periodontitis” (Pal 3). Periodontitis, a gum infection that can damage and even destroy the jawbone, is found in both humans and animals, so researchers conducted experiments on animals with the disease to find better treatments, cures, and ways to prevent it. If they had not tested on animals with this disease, the cures and treatments

Many of those who disapprove of animal experimentation do so with no room for compromise, even though “more than 80% of animals used for medical research are short lived rodents…”, or, in other words, vermin (Lachmann 5). The same people who fight against using any animals in laboratories, including mice and rats, are the same people who go out and exterminate them when they find the animals in their house or yard. If in the real world these same animals would only get exterminated when people find them, it makes no sense why researchers should not be allowed to use them for something that can benefit humans, instead of them dying as pests. Furthermore, the food industry relies on animals as well, so “the very fact that it is the medical and pharmacy colleges that are being called to stop using animals for experimentation is proof that we are obvious ‘soft targets’ who are expected to give in without a fight,” unlike the food industry, who manages to slip under the radar of those who criticize animal testing (Gitabjali 5). While both industries exist to benefit humans, the animals in the food industry often get treated much worse than the animals in the medical science industry. The field that works towards the health of humans - and animals - and overall treats its animals much better than other industries should not receive so much criticism from animal rights activists who should focus on more pressing matters, such as the treatment of animals in the food industry. In addition, cases exist where where the research performed on the animal helped not only humans, but animals too, such as the research regarding rabies, where “... the vaccination of animals in the wild by dropping meat treated with recombinant vaccinia virus containing rabies antigens… promises to eradicate rabies in the wild” (“Of Guinea Pigs and Men 3”). In other industries, such as food or extermination, the