Animal Experimentation: an Immoral Crime or Not?

Animal experimentation, according to the Encyclopdia Britannica, is an operation on a living animal for experimental rather than healing purposes; more broadly, all experimentation on live animals. This experiment nowadays is become more often to do, along with technological advances. Worldwide it is estimated that the number of vertebrate animals used for experimentation ranges from the tens of millions to more than 100 million. Mice and rats used in the United States in 2001 was about 80 million. Most animals are euthanized after being used in an experiment. This improper treatments are subject to much debate. Some people are against it, while the others support it. Then, which is right? Here, I will give you some opinions from both sides. People who are pro to animal experimentation say that it is used to prevent human suffering and death, although there must be some sacrifices, the health of human being is our first priority, while the animal's is our secondary priority. The second opinion is that the animal experimentation can be used to prevent the higher chance of suffering by drug side effects, as we may know the side effects of drugs can be danger. Beside that, the gene of primates is similar to human, so that from learning the primate's reaction of medical treatment, we may know how to treat human better. In addition, the animal experimentation has been used from the time of Aristotle until now to develop many discoveries in the medical field. Without those sacrifices, the research will become more harder. But in the other hand, the animal experimentation also gives some negative impacts. Morally, using animals in experiment, treating them improperly, watching them suffering is simply unacceptable. God has told us to love all living. Being cruel to animals on behalf of human welfare is not relevant. Beside that, practically, the researchers treat the animals improperly, some of them are often not adequately anaesthetised and are abused by handlers and experimenters, this will make the animal become unhealthy or even maimed for the rest of they life. This lack of standardization of experimental has been protested by the animal lovers. Also, the benefits of those experiment was not worth the sacrifices of animal. Sometimes, the drug side effects still infect humans, although they has been known from the animal experimentation. In fact, most animal experiments are done on animals that are nothing like human beings, such as mice and rats, which undermines the argument that these experiments are a reliable guide to human reactions. Each species has its own unique physiology, so it's irrelevant to presume that the reaction of those animals is similar to human's. Then, why do we must sacirifice those animals? It is really immoral. Nah, we have looked the both sides of this problem. From those arguments, I conclude that the

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animal experimentation has positive impacts such as preventing human suffering and developing discoveries, also negative impacts such as making the animal disable. So, what is our choice? I think that the scientist doing animal experimentation must do the three Rs, that is reduction, refinement, repalcement. Reduction is reducing the number of animals used in experiments by improving experimental techniques, techniques of data analysis, and sharing information with other researchers. Refinement is refining the experiment or the way the animals are cared for so as to reduce their suffering by using less invasive techniques, better medical care, better living conditions. Replacement is replacing experiments on animals with alternative techniques such as experimenting on cell cultures instead of whole animals, using computer models, studying human volunteers, using epidemiological studies.1 By doing those things, we can get the positive impacts of the animal experimentation without sacrificing the animals further. It sounds better, right?

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