Animal testing
The practice of using the animal for testing has been debated for over decades, the animal testing debate has about if it is morally right or wrong to use animal during experiments. The term animal testing is the process of subjecting animal to clinical trials before conducting human trials. Animal testing involves developing an experiment to determine the effectiveness of certain drugs or product’s efficacy. Each year, more than 26 million animals in the US are used for experiments.
New medical treatments and commercial products are tested in animal first to verify the levels of toxicity of the product and also their safety levels before these products are finally tested on humans. Animals have been used for quite some time for biomedical respect that can be traced back during the Greek scientist like Aristotle period. Both scientists conducted medical experiments on live animals. Various scientists determined to improve the field of medicine conduct medical experiments using specific animals like rats or monkeys to develop an in-depth understanding of pathology and pharmacology effect of the drugs. The drugs can only be tested on humans after undergoing a series of tests on animals.
In the nineteenth-century Arab physicians known as Zuhr Ibn conducted several animal researches to assess the surgical procedures that could be applicable in humans. Since then, animal testing is seen to be the most efficient way to developing new drugs and products, policy makers are yet to be convinced that using animal for testing causes serious harm more to animals.
Other scientists and animal welfare groups have opposed such practice terming it as inhumane and should be banned. Despite numerous opposing opinions about animal testing, the practice is still alive in the 21 century in laboratories. Animal testing is used in education and applied in biomedical research. There are many animal testing being carried out even though various interest groups condemning such acts. These groups advocate for alternative testing methods to prohibit animal testing. Several animal welfare organizations have increased the levels of awareness about alternative testing without using animals. They argue that testing animals does not yield accurate results compared to human application; therefore, there is no need to involve animals in testing drugs or products.
Use of animals for medical purposes is seen to be necessary. Animal research and development usually begin their trials using rats. If the tests are successful, further tests are done on monkeys before using human beings. For testing, such tiered rounds are important because it reduces the level of error and any negative side effects. Scientist argues that animal testing has saved many lives and other alternatives might not produce accurate results like animal tests. The use of animal for research is an old concept that continued to be debated.
Medical experts argue that animals are not intentionally harmed; they are well taken care of and treated well. There are regulations for animal testing that limits the misuse of animal during research. However, animal welfare organizations claim that it is unnecessary to use animal for testing and the process needs to be stopped because it is inhuman and cruel. In conclusion, using animals for medical research is ethical and useful because it contributes to scientific development to improve human health. Despite the benefits of animal testing, some of the animal welfare organizations concerns need to be addressed with adequate regulations being enacted to ensure that animals are treated humanely.
