Since I was little I always know studies have been down on animals. As I grew older I learned that many scientific advances that I take for granted today are available because of the sacrifices of animals. The sacrifices that we made of them not by choice. Lots of people are animal lovers and in some religions animals are worshiped, yet we use them in harmful experiments that limit their lives and make them perform things that they normally would not do. Thus, I decided to do research on how many people think it is right to use animals for experiments and how many people do not. Please take the poll below so I can see how others feel about the topic.

http://goo.gl/heUFvR  (To take the poll)

http://goo.gl/Eh8mUi  (To see the results)

This question has been debated for a long time. Both sides have good arguments to support their views.  One argument for animal testing is that through their experiments, scientist have been able to create lifesaving cures and treatments.  In fact, nearly every medical breakthrough in the last 100 years has been found through the experimentation on animals says “The California Research Association.” Some of the most notable discoveries through animal experimentation are the finding of insulin through removing the pancreas of a dog. Another discovery is advancements in childhood Leukemia well as testing the effectiveness of a Polio vaccine. Another argument for experiments on animals is because some studies that need to be done but are not ethical for humans; thus, in order to complete studies that could potentially save the lives of humans animals need to be used as living, whole body substitute. In addition, some animals are close in DNA as humans so to spear the life of humans they are used instead. For an example, Chimps have 99% of the same DNA that we have and mice are 98% genetically similar. Another argument is that animals benefit just like we do from being tested on vaccines because if we do not find effective vaccines than animals will also catch diseases. Other arguments for experiments on animals include  that animals do not have rights so it is tolerable, that animals make better test subjects than humans because they do not leave as long, and there are regulations that make sure the animals are treated correctly and scientist themselves treat them humanely so they would compromise the experiments. Moreover, 90% of biomedical scientist believe that it is acceptable to experiment on animals.

Those were some pretty good arguments; however, the arguments against experimentation on animals have good points as well. One argument against experimenting on animals is that they are inhumane. Some of cruel experiments include depriving animals of food and water, giving animals wounds, making them inhale toxic cases, and giving them disease such as cancers and aids. Shampoo companies even use animals as test subjects to observe effects of their products which can give animals, skin irritation. Another argument against experimentation on animals is that today there are substitute experiments that can be used for scientific discoveries such as studying cell cultures in petri dishes, using small doses in humans if they fear it might do them harm, or use artificial human skin. Alternatively, scientist are artificial organs with skin cells to stimulate real human organs. Other arguments include that animals differ from animals so tests are not reliable, the drugs that pass with animals are not guaranteed safe, and some tests may deceive us on how effective treatments are. For an example, Aspirin is hazardous to some animals yet, it is beneficial to us.

In conclusion, I believe that using animals as experiments is inhumane. It is hypocritical for us to use animals as test experiments. This is abuse and it is similar, but to a lesser extent, to Nazi experiments on people. Animals have rights and we need to protect them. As I said in the beginning I since I was a child I have known animals to have been experimented on. However, these experiments that I were taught was of a chimp going to space and a sheep, a duck, and a rooster in a hot air balloon. Those experiments back then were amusing, but what I know today is not. 87% of the studies did not randomize their control animals. In addition, 86% did not use double blind placebo trials. Moreover, only 59% of the studies even stated the studies’ hypotheses and the amount of animals’ features used.Not to mention that, 94% of drugs that pass animal tests fail in human clinical trials. So if you haven’t taken the poll please do so now and check out what other class mates think.

http://animal-testing.procon.org/

Sharp, Tim. “The First Hot-Air Balloon | The Greatest Moments in Flight.”Space.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2014.