Animal Experimentation

A detailed Summary of Animal Experimentation

Throughout the 20th century, scientists have continually made important and advantageous breakthroughs in numerous fields of studies. Many of the scientists responsible for these discoveries directly, or indirectly, used animals somewhere along the road to their goals and conclusions. This process of experimenting on animals is known as vivisection. Undoubtedly, these scientists did use vivisection; but that is not the question posed. Essentially, the question is what are the benefits, and what are the harms of animal testing. Moreover though, the question is do the risks outweigh the benefits. And finally, the most important question is 'Was animal research essential? Is there any other way to find and test the theories and medication we have?'

Before we examine the questions and attempt to answer the above state queries, we must obtain a background on the issue. Animal experimentation and testing have been practiced for centuries. The range of the type of animals used in experiments can vary widely depending on the type of experiment. According to various organizations the number of animals used in these tests ranges from 200 to 900 million animals annually.

There are a number of different species of animals which are use

So animals are used, a lot. There must be obvious purposes for this, right? Well, of course there are purposes and reasons for animal testing. According to the United States Public Health Service 'Virtually every medical achievement of the last century has depended directly or indirectly on research in animals'. And it is quite well documented that in many areas such as disease research and organ transplants, animal subjects were used for testing. Some of the benefits have been more vaccines and medication for diseases like polio, and advancements in the research fields of cancer and AIDS. But what are the harms of animal testing? Well, vivisection results in the deaths of an estimated 17-70 million deaths per year. This number can change because many organizations do not consider mice and rats "animals" although the constitute 90% of all the animals used. In the field of cosmetic testing, which is a particularly destructive form of animal testing in which chemicals are injected (usually through eye irritancy tests) and are left in containment contraptions (that many animals break their necks trying to escape) while scientists examine eye corrosion and skin poisoning over periods of 7 to 17 days. Now the harms of this are obvious, many animals die. But many people believe that it is more than just 'dead animals', that it is morally disgusting and a complete disregard for all life of this planet. Many scienti

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Approximate Word count = 955
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics