Animal testing in medicine has been carried out since a really long time.

There are three

groups of people formed due to animal testing. The first group is for animal testing, the
second against animal testing and lastly a group of neutral people, who show no interest in
animal testing. The following paragraphs will cover some animal testing facts and put forth
the pros and cons of animal testing. If you too are interested about animal testing pros and
cons, then read on.

Animal Testing Pros

Animal testing is basically making use of animals in experiments carried out for the
betterment of human lives. These animal experiments are carried out by universities,
pharmaceutical companies and even by students and researchers at medical schools. These
animals are either bred specifically for carrying out experiments or are caught from their wild
habitat and locked up in cages. There are some animal testing pros that motivate scientists to
carry out experiments on these animals. So, what are some of the good things that support the
torturing of these poor animals? Let's see some of these animal testing pros that makes
proponents of animal experimentation argue for use of animals in research.

Animal testing helps in finding ways to help save lives of animals and humans by testing life
saving drugs and processes. A few animals tend to react the same way like humans in
response to certain diseases and allergies. This helps the scientists find a cure for certain
diseases by studying these animals. Open heart surgeries, coronary bypass surgery and heart
transplantation are some of the procedures that came into existence by carrying out
experimentation on dogs. Insulin for diabetes, life saving antibiotics, etc. have been made by
experimenting on animals. Contagious diseases like small pox, measles, chicken pox, rubella,
polio, rabies, mumps, etc. were brought into control due to vaccines made by carrying out
experiments on animals.

Treatment for scarlet fever, tuberculosis, complex surgical procedures for humans were tested
OK for humans through animal testing. Tests for vaccines for diseases like AIDS is being
carried out on animals. The common animals used for these tests include rats, mice, rabbits,
monkeys, dogs, goats, horses, etc. Chimpanzees share about 90% of their genetic make up
with humans. These animals have similar reactions and somewhat similar inner organs to
humans that help in determining the effects of drugs and procedures on humans. Many
transplantation operations were first carried out on animals, that helped determine and save
lives for humans.

Animals are not only tested for making lives of humans better, but for the betterment of
animals themselves as well. People often overlook the fact, that may breakthroughs in
veterinary medicine has occurred due to animal testing. Animal surgeries, animal antibiotics,
etc. have all come into existence, due to animal testing. Thus, animal testing pros prove it is
very vital in saving not only the lives of humans, but those of animals as well.
Animal testing helps in figuring out the safety of drugs on humans, before scientists begin the
human trail. You don't want people getting adverse reactions to these drugs and adding more
woes to their misery. The animal trials help minimize the chances of human death during
clinical trials, saving pharmaceutical and medical organizations millions of dollars in
compensation. Also, animals, like mice and rabbits, reproduce very quickly. This gives the
researchers a chance to see the effects of the experiments on the progeny too. Now, let us see
some of the arguments against animal testing.

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) supporters will stand in unison against
any discussion on animal testing pros and cons. However, when we view various animal
testing pros, we realize that there are several positive aspects of animal testing viz.

 Various dangerous diseases like herpes simplex, hepatitis B, polio, rabies, malaria and
mumps have been treated owing to medications developed from tests on animals.
 Results through medical research on animals has led to improvement in medical
procedures like blood measurement, lung diseases diagnosis, heart diseases diagnosis and
various pacemaker technologies.
 One of the most important techniques in medical surgery, anesthesia has been
developed after it has been tested on animals.
 Animal research has been also able to benefit cats and dogs in certain ailments.
Moreover, nutrition of cats and dogs has been improved after repeated animal tests.

Animal Testing Cons

When we speak about animal testing cons, there are plenty of emotional and ethical issues
staring in our faces. The first and foremost con is the issue of pain the animal must be going
through. Although, it is claimed none of the animals were hurt in the test, but how can one be
100% sure? Not all handlers are alike and some just jab the needles through their body, keep
them in cramped up spaces, with little or no food sometimes. Animals cannot speak, so how
can we determine whether or not and the level of pain the poor creature is going through?

Animal testing statistics show many creatures lose their lives during the course of
experiments. Some lose their limbs, eyesight, hearing ability, etc. All in the name of saving
human lives. Agreed, when people say millions of animals are killed worldwide for food.
But, you can't compare that with the months of torture the animals go through while the
experiments are on. Wouldn't you prefer being killed in one shot, rather than enduring poking
needles, cuts and poisonous chemicals being injected into your system and being kept caged
in a really small space for what seems like all eternity? You may wish to escape the dreaded
place that smells of disinfectants, chemicals and may be sure death, but cannot.

There are many animal rights group that claim killing animals is inhumane. Animal testing in
cosmetic industry as well as a household products is not worth the life of a poor animal.
Animal testing also proves to be a bit expensive. This is because the cost of housing, feeding
caring for the animals is quite high. Animals are in a great deal of stress as they are not living
in their natural habitat and the controlled environment may take a toll on their minds. Also,
some claim animal experiments can be misleading as an animals response to a drug cannot be
absolutely similar to a humans.

People are now suggesting use of tissue culture, statistics and even computer models for
carrying out the test. Animal rights also exist and abusing someone weaker than us is not
right. The death of animals due to an experiment gone wrong is similar to murder of a human
who was tested against his will. In human tests, at least humans are asked whether or not they
would like to sign up legally for being tested. There are legal papers and documents that
safeguard the rights of the human subject and compensate him for any kind of loss. Animals
on the other hand, are never asked for their opinion and have never had their rights
safeguarded. The obvious explanation begin they do not have the understanding capabilities
of humans. This does not give us the right to use another life for our benefits.

To find a cure for cancer, the animal cells are forced to grow abnormally, so that experiments
can be carried out to find a remedy. With stem cell research and genetics getting a push,
animals are subjected to further animal cruelty. Hybrid animals and cloning is carried out on
the poor animals who are injected with genes of other animals within an embryo of another
species. The resultant being a cross, that is either malformed or dead before being born. Do
we have the right to reduce the dignity of animals by forcing mutations on them?

These are just some of the animal testing pros and cons. You can see both the sides of animal
testing facts tilt the scales of the balance equally. Animal testing helps saves lives of millions
of humans, but in turn, thousands of these animals lose their lives. It is an open fact, not all
handlers and researchers handle the animals with care. Computers cannot predict an outcome,
just the possibility and tissue culture cannot predict the physical implications of a drug like
rashes, cardiac failure, etc. Similarly, animal testing cannot accurately prove the implications
of drugs and procedures on humans.

It has been proven that over 92% of drugs that claim to pass the animal trials fail when tested
on humans by the Humane Society of the United States. This debate on animal testing pros
and cons will continue till scientists do not find an alternative to this cruel process of animal
experimentation. You can decide for yourself, whether you are for, against or just a mute
spectator to animal testing. Every coin has two sides, so does animal testing. It is now up to
each one of us to decide, which side do we choose.

Animal testing statistics are alarming. To discover new medicines and vaccinations, millions
of animals are killed every year all across the globe. Animal rights are lost in oblivion when it
comes to animal testing ethics. In this part of animal research pros and cons, we focus on
animal testing cons.

 Animals go through severe pain during the tests. Most testers claim they use
anesthesia to conduct the tests. However, can pricking needles and using chemicals on
 animals be painless? Who knows if they use anesthesia safely? Just because animals
can't speak, are they subject to such treatments?
 Months of torture leads to loss of eyesight loss, organ failure and many more
dangerous consequences on animal health. Just to see the affects of chemicals, animals
are imprisoned and observed over certain period of time. Meanwhile, they go through
hell and eventually death. Majority of animals are killed in the process.
 Animal testing in cosmetic industry is another issue that has raised serious concerns
over animal safety. Why to kill animals for enhancing beauty, that is often harmful for
skin. Why not adopt natural means for beauty?
 Animals have been forced to mutate and produce cross springs. Embryos of different
animals are injected in a different animal body.
 Animal cloning is another phenomena that has been tried several times. Why to
reduce the dignity of animal lives? Mostly, hybrid animals and cloned ones are either
diseased, malformed and even dead.
 Animal cruelty has risen to peaks after stem cell and tissue culture has become
popular. Scientists are suggesting to find cure for cancer by trying all experiments on
animals. How ethical is it?
 A study suggests that less than 2% of illnesses that affects humans are ever found in
animals. Even rodents (rats) that are mostly used in cancer research; rarely suffer from
human form of cancer (lung cancer etc). Why are they still used in such researches?

Animal research pros and cons will always be debated among scholars, animal lovers and
scientists. Humanity has always been caught in dualities. While there is a positive side to one
aspect, the negative side also exists. Animal research through animal experimentation has
been an integral part of medical research. I personally don't agree with this inhumane system.
What about you? Share your thoughts about animal research pros and cons, down in the
comments column and tell millions of readers, what you feel. But always remember, we all
agree to disagree.

The most commonly held perception (or rather misconception) of animal testing is that it is
necessary for the development of cures, vaccines and other treatments for human illnesses.

Supporters ask a very important question – what would happen to research on cancer, heart
disease and AIDS if animal experimentation were to be completely stopped? Will the
progress in treatments and cures for such illnesses also come to a stop?

There is a rapidly growing movement of healthcare professionals that include scientists;

doctors and even some educated members of the public who are extremely opposed to
animals based testing, specifically on scientific and medical grounds. They are of the opinion
that animal testing and research is completely based on false premises, that the results that are
obtained from such experimentation cannot be applied to the human body.

Not only do animals react differently from humans where drugs, experiments and vaccines
are concerned, but they also tend to react differently from each other. Ignoring these
differences has been and will continue to be extremely costly to human health.
One of the most famous examples when it comes to the dangers of animal experimentation
would have to be the Thalidomide Tragedy of the 60’s and 70’s. Thalidomide was a drug that
came out of the German market and was previously considered to be safely tested on
thousands and thousands of animals. It was then marketed as a wonder drug; an amazing
sedative for breastfeeding or pregnant mothers and it supposedly could cause no harm to
either the mother or the child. Despite this apparent ‘safety testing’, tens of thousands of
children who’s mothers had used this drug were born with severe deformities.

Another good example of the dangers of animal testing is Clioquinol, which was also
supposed to be safely tested on animals and later on had a severely adverse impact on
humans. Manufactures in the 70’s in Japan, it was marketed as a wonder drug for providing
relief from diarrhea. Not only did it not work on humans, but it even cause diarrhea in them!
As a result of this drug being administered to the public, thousands of cases of paralysis and
blindness and thousands of death cases occurred all over.

Now do you think that these two examples were just isolated cases – exceptions? Even
though most drugs are routinely tested on animals, reports have shown that hundreds of
thousands of people are killed every year and more than 2 million are hospitalized due to
these prescription drugs. Reports have also shown that at least 4 out of every 10 patients who
use a prescription drug can expect to suffer from sever or even noticeable side effects.

Many clinical observers will agree that the incidence of medically induces diseases are now
so great that roughly 1 in every 10 hospitals beds will be occupied by patients who have been
made ill by their doctors.

So, what happens to all those important breakthroughs caused by animal testing, and that
have enormously aided the overall human health? The animal research industry has given
many examples of the success of cures and treatments for different illnesses that have only
been found through animal testing. They believe that if animal experimentation is stopped,
then it will be at the expense of life and the human health.

However, animal research has not aided in the fight against any of the major diseases. Take
cancer for example. Animal research has not aided in the least bit when it comes to warding
off cancer. In fact, it has managed to divert resources from effective research and from the
wisest of all solutions – prevention.

With countless innocent animals, billions of dollars and more than 30 to 40 years being spent
on the war against cancer, one would expect concrete results to show up if animal
experimentation was actually as effective as it is made out to be. On the contrary, the
incidence of cancer has grown and continues to grow. Many cancer funds and organizations
have claimed that we are now losing the war against cancer because this animal-based cancer
research is failing, and it just downright stinks.

What progress has been made in the study of AIDS? Animals are still being used for
experiments even though they are not capable of developing the AIDS virus. The
development of those lifesaving protease inhibitors was initially delayed because of the
misleading data that came out of experiments on monkeys. What good does it do to us,
humans, to test something on them, monkeys? You’ll probably find out some 5 to 6 years
from now that it works on monkeys, but once you test it on humans, then you’ll realize that
humans behave completely different. So, you just wasted five precious years of your life.

Clearly, if you we are looking to make any progress in medicine, an entirely new approach is
required. Human medicine should no longer be dependent on veterinary medicine. It is
dangerous and fraudulent to apply data retrieved from one species to another entirely
different species.

Animal testing will continue to confuse all issues and their results will most definitely be
precise and accurate. There is no basic connection between animal testing and the human
health. The general belief in the goodness of animal testing is basically the result of
brainwashing that the general public has been subjected to for a long, long time. Behind these
torturous practices are the pharmaceutical companies that spend billions of dollars on
financing and publicizing the research universities and institutes. I rest my case.