Animals in Medical Testing
The use of animals in research has been key in the development of drugs and treatments, for human and animal illnesses. Vivisection, which is the practice of experimenting on animals, was first utilized by the ancient Greeks who cut the throat of a pig in order to understand swallowing. To study the beating heart, they cut into a live pigs chest (altweb.htm). These ancient experiments had no intention of making the animal feel pain or suffering, but was a sacrifice of a living animal for the sake of understanding. Western civilization can attribute its accomplishments in the field of medicine to the ancient Greeks in part, for their vast knowledge in medicine, which was fueled by innovative minds who obtained knowledge of the human body by those of the animals. Since the initial discoveries in medicine made by the ancient Greeks, researchers and doctors have used animals to learn how the organs and various systems of the body work, leading to the modern sciences we understand and use today such as physiology, pharmacology, bacteriology, and immunology. Further improvement in the health and welfare of human and animal life and development in the field of medicine requires animals to be the subjects o
A day will come when medicine is greatly needed by you or someone you care about, and when that day comes, if it hasn't already, you will be glad the medicine is there. The millions and probably billions of animals who have died for the sake of study are crucial to the events and discoveries leading to an overall increase in good health and well being of people and animals. As much as I and everyone else would like to see alternatives to animals in experimentation, the technology is just not available at the moment. I still think it is sad that animals suffer and die for our own sake, but the only actual alternative is to test on humans which is more sad. These are some of the sacrifices we must make if we want to improve. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) recognizes that "animals play a central and essential role in research, testing, and education... and the humane care of animals used in research, testing and education is an integral part of those activities." (www.avma.org) There are protocols and regulations in terms of the care animals are taken. These are not your house pets being tortured in cages. These are rats, mice, and birds which are specifically bred for the purpose of research testing, similar to the breeding of pigs, cows, chicken, and fish for the purpose of consumption. These rules are also known as the "three r's"; refinement of methods to eliminate or reduce animal pain and distress; reduction of the number of animals consistent with sound experimental design; and replacement of animals with non-animal methods wherever feasible. Although many precautions are taken in order to ensure the humane treatment of the animals used in experiments, certain people do not approve of the high number of deaths which occur in animal testing. Some say that there are perfectly good alternatives such as using microorganisms which have little or no capacity for pain. Some also want to reduce the number of animals used per study. These alternatives do work in some circumstances and for ce
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Approximate Word count = 1366
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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