The Pros And Cons Of Animal Testing

Animal testing is the use of animals in a rarity of experiments use by universities, pharmaceutical companies, medical institutes, agricultural industry and military establishments. The reasons that human test on animals rather than on humans is that ethical consideration restrict the use of humans as subject for testing and the World Medical Association Decoration of Helsinki states that human trials should be preceded by animal trials. Animals are also appropriate subjects and models to test and research on as they share similar body systems to humans, where Chimps share 99% of their DNA with human and mice are98% genetically similar to humans. All species of mammals are the descendants of a common ancestor, and have the same set of organs

Studying cell cultures in a petri dish does not provide the opportunity to research the interrelated processes in the body’s different systems. Computers, no matter how powerful, will only be reliable if accurate info has been collected from animal testing in the first place and will be unable to simulate accurately the workings of the body's systems. Animals are also poor models as they are anatomically, metabolically and cellular different to humans. According to Professor of Clinical Neuroimaging, Paul Furlong at Aston University who states that “it's very hard to create an animal model that even equates closely to what we're trying to achieve in the human”. Chemical testing done on animals often would lead to illnesses which are sometimes cause by the animals bodies unable to handle the chemical treatment. The animals can become lethargic or exhibit signs of distress. Cosmetic companies use animals to test their product to see if they are safe for human use. This testing is a common result of skin irritation where the products can cause minor rashes to serious infections in the skin of the animals. Testing involving radiation or medical procedure can cause genetic

The amount of pain the animal experiences is unknown but the pain is often exhibited by refusing to eat or staying still rather than engaging in normal activities. In New Zealand, an article published on the 13th May 2014 by the New Zealand Herald by Erin Schreiner reported that “in 2012 almost 17,000 of the animals involved were graded as undergoing 'severe suffering'”. Animals that undergo testing often would either die as a result of the testing where the animals are not given treatments to counter the effects of the testing which could result in the loss of body function and death. Animal testing in New Zealand are used for research, testing and teaching and are strictly controlled under the Animal Welfare Act of 1999 (AWA) and the organizations must comply to an approved code of ethical conduct. This sets the policies and procedures that need to be followed by the organization and their animal ethical committee who have to approve each project. It is legal in New Zealand under AWA 1999 for animals to be tested on. In some cases where the nature of the work would result in potential benefits for humans and the environment, this can result in the animals being tested being