Animal Experimentation: Nothing's Wrong with Trying

Animal Experimentation: Nothing's Wrong With Trying

How much is a human life worth when compared to an animals? Would it even be comparable? Although our world functions solely on the backs of humans why do some find it necessary to prefer to save the life of an animal over a human? Animal's experimentation has been around for hundreds of years. Through it, lives have been saved, methods for controlling diseases have been discovered, and new and safer ways to operate on humans have been discovered as well. Animal research is conducted with the hopes that the possible pain an animal might feel during an experiment will help to eliminate the pain felt by humans and animals later (Gathary). All animal experiments are done with the hopes to help and save lives not to maliciously hurt defenseless animals. Scientist should not be condemned for wanting to improve our world but appreciated for caring for millions of people they do not know. Most animals used are easy to reproduce and losing a life of a rat for example is not equivalent to losing the life of a human. Human beings take nine months to grow and prepare themselves before entering the world while rats, mice, and rabbits reproduce faster than the blink of an eye. Humans also have the ability to process thoughts and feeling whereas feelings do not exist for animals ("Results"). They do not comprehend the way humans do. Because of this, experimentation is more preferable to be conducted on animals then it would be if conducted of humans ("Results"). Animals are not treated as horribly as one may think, it has benefited our world in so many ways, it helps both humans and animals, and the loss of an animal is not a loss of importance when compared with a human being.

Animal experimentation started in the 1500's (Corsi). A scientist named Ambroise Pare was the first to openly admit and publish his works of animal experimentation. Because of his curiosity he was the first surgeon to use ligatures to stop bleeding in deep wounds. This was only the beginning of his work in animal experimentation and start of experimentation that would change our world. Most people in the 1500's did not understand the process of experimentation. Most believed at experimenting with animals was going against god's will and they felt that it allowed humans with too much power. Because of this many scientist faced being persecuted with having black magic (Corsi). Despite the early discrimination of animal experimentation, scientist did not falter and ignore their curiosity. The start of animal experimentation was based on the fascination in which they had the ability to discover new things. Today animal experimentation exists to benefit both humans and animals. It was provided the world with so many vaccines and saved so many lives with results and because of this it should not be looked down upon but embraced and appreciated for all that's it has and will do.

In today's world animal experimentation is looked down upon because people do not feel it is right to put animals under so much strain and pain. What people do not understand is that it is necessary and that in the end all results concluded from the experiment will help to prevent future pain (Moore). People only complain but they are blinded to what outcomes have come from animal experimentation. They are ignorant to the fact that these experimentations have in some shape or form saved their life or a love ones life. Experiments are not just thrown together over night; they have to be carefully planned out, organized, and certified (Moore). The point of these experiments is to study how the disease affects the animal and hopefully determine how it might affect the human (Moore). This is the longest process because they have to carefully keep track and diaries of each day the animal is injected with a possible vaccine. In no way are the animals being hurt for the joy of pain. These scientists are only trying to help people and hopefully save lives as well. Once the scientist determines how the disease works he must then figure out how to control and get rid of the disease. Ninety percent of animals used in experimentations are mice and rats because they are easy to house and they reproduce rapidly (Gathary). This is important to understand because experiments are being conducted on animals which would be easily reproduced and danger to the species existence would not be in jeopardy.

Many have tried to come up with ways in which animal experimentation would not be necessary. Along with many alternatives the opposing side has generated an idea referred to the three R's. The three R's consist of reduction, refinement, and replacement (Bekoff 6). Most alternative ideas still include animals. Reduction does exactly so and reduces the number of animals used in experimentations but there would still be experiments conducted on animals (Bekoff 6). The refinement alternatives are methods that help to minimize pain which they believe the animals are feeling (Bekoff 7). Refinement helps to calculate the amount of pain the animal may be feeling in order to conclude ways in which to decrease pain scientist have to experiment different drugs also therefore contradicting their opposition to eliminate experimentation (Bekoff 7). Replacement is the only alternative which completely removes the animal from experimentation and uses the virtro system (Bekoff 7). The virtro system carries out all studies in a Petri dish and bases all conclusions off of the reactions formed in the Petri dish (Bekoff 7). Animal experimentation cannot be eliminated completely. One can reduce the number of animals used but to derive accurate answers animals are a necessity.

Many have suggested solely sticking to human experimentation. Although in the past human experimentation was taken too far by the Nazis and as a result today we have the Nuremberg Codes. These codes were issued by law to serve as a voluntary consent to perform experimentations on humans (Walters 22). While the codes give some room for experimentation scientist are not given the authority to perform a full experiment on a human as they would an animal. Code five clearly states, "No experimentation should be conducted where there is a priori reason to believe that death or a disabling injury will occur" (Walters 22). Within every experimentation, comes risk and possible death because without it then we would not be fully experimenting and testing ways to avoid more deaths in the future. People are not willing to give their life and the life of an animal to experiment on which is slowing down the process of new discoveries. Even when experimenting on humans animal experimentation is needed as it says in