Killing for Satisfaction ENG4U 05 / 8 / 2015

By: Arielle Theoret

Killing for Satisfaction
Worldwide, there are millions of species that have negatively been affected by humans in different ways. Issues related to animal experimentation are commonly debated in society, since each year lots of animals are hurt and killed in laboratories. Testing on animals is a very controversial topic. Some scientists see the benefits of testing on animals, but there are also some who see that testing chemicals on animals is not necessary since there are alternative methods. Many reasons can be explained behind the fact that animals are constantly used for testing. Isn’t cruel to harm helpless and defenseless animals who are being performed on for different types of experiments all around the world? Therefore, animal testing should definitely be banned worldwide because animals as well as innocent humans should have the rights to live a healthy live. Over 100 million animals are burned, poisoned, and abused in labs every year. Instead of performing tests on animals, wouldn’t it be fair to test those chemicals on criminals? There are numerous negative effects to why performing tests on animals is depriving. First, animals are killed or kept in captivity and get injured due to many chemicals performed on them and will even die or remain injured the rest of their lives. The tests cause severe allergic reactions to the animals. Cosmetic testing can even lead to liver problems, swollen eyelids, ulceration, and bleeding. The animals clearly undergo inhumane treatment. They are controlled such as in in the case of the Draize Test. This is a procedure that involves applying 0.5mL or 0.5g of a test substance to the eye or skin of a restrained, conscious animal, and then leaving it for set amount of time before rinsing it out and recording its effects. The eyelids of the rabbits are held back for at least 72 hours during the test. How cruel this is? Some substances tested may never be used for anything useful because many of these animals receive substances that will never actually been approved. It is this aspect of animal testing that many view as a major negative against the practice, as the animal seems to die for unproductive reasons because there is no direct benefit to humans occurring. Moreover, animal testing costs an enormous amount of money since the animals must be fed, housed and treated with different kind of drugs or similar experimental substances. Also, in most cases the experiments may have to be repeated again, which means there are additional costs. If instead of using animals, the law could allow to use criminals, the governments would spend a smaller amount of money since the criminals are already covered by society therefore, performing tests on them would reduce the quantity of money spent. Why prisoners? Detainees are mostly viewed by society as being dangerous people and usually people want to see these inmates suffer and be killed. Ninety percent of experimental drugs that are safe and effective in animals fail in human clinical trials and this is because they are too dangerous or do not work. Animals and humans are never exactly the same, physically and mentally. A reaction of a drug in an animal's body is quite different from the reaction in a human. The main reproach is that many individuals believe animal testing is unreliable. Following on that criticism the animals will definitely be under some stress is the evidence that animals are in an unnatural environment. Thus, they will not react to the drugs in the same way compared to their potential reaction in a natural environment. Also, Animals have different distribution of fine blood vessels, so their skin does not react in the