Animal Rights
One of the questions facing society today is whether animals should be used in scientific experimentation. In the middle of this controversy, many ideas about nature, primarily animals, are formed. Each side has different arguments, each one posing questions on the place of humans with respect to animals and the rest of the natural world. The history of the benefits of animal research is marked by dramatic breakthroughs. Working with animals in research is vital to continue medical progress. There is a great deal of controversy surrounding animal research today. One example of such controversy is animal rights activists saying that animals have the capacity to suffer. Another example is animals can't control their own behavior and humans can, so humans shouldn't harm the life of animals. Animal rights activist also say that animal research is deliberate and therefore cruel. Lastly animal rights activists believe discrimination against other life forms, because they are members of different species, is parallel to discrimination against humans on the grounds of race, gender or religion, and therefore is immoral. On top of this there are many things that we would not have if it weren't for animal testing.
We recognize that humans are probably unique in their ability to define abstract ideas like right and wrong and then to recognize when our actions fall into either category. The trouble of course, arises, when two or more people try to agree on whether something is actually right or wrong. Is killing animals right or wrong? Humans regularly kill animals, mostly for food. It is true that humans can survive on a vegetarian or even vegan diet. Does this mean that not eating animals is more moral than eating them, humans must be vegetarian simply because they have the choice, or to put it another way, humans have no choice. All other animals that kill do so for their own benefit. Humans are a very special kind of animal, but we cannot deny our animal origins. Sometimes it is necessary to kill animals for medical research as well. This is no less essential to us than killing animals for food. Animals in labs are euthanized humanely using guidelines set by the American Veterinary Medical Association. The majority of animals must be euthanized to obtain tissue samples for evaluation and for use in vitro tests (Motavalli). If there is no other option to finding cures for unpleasant illnesses than by using animals in research, then why should humans deny themselves this benefit? For animals, the matter is even clearer. If I am driving in my car, and a dog and a child run out in front of me, and I have the option of hitting either one of them, but not missing both, which one do I run over? No matter what your feelings on animal rights, in this situation no one could choose to run over the child to save the dog. We do rank the importance of animal and human life on a scale, with human life near the top and animal life further down. There are certain types of discrimination that have been outlawed in our society. This is because to tolerate these kinds of discrimination leads to social unrest and possibly the break down of a human society which is founded on a high level of mutual co-operation. Examples of this are discrimination on the grounds of race or gender. However, there are other types of discrimination that are quite legitimate. If I spot my little brother being hit by another child who is older and bigger in the street, nobody would think any the worse of me for stepping in, stopping the fight, tending my brother's bruises and sending the other child away. This is discrimination against the other child in favor of my brother, but f
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Approximate Word count = 1657
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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