A few days ago, I was questioned on my views on animal testing. While it may be assumed that I would simply claim to be against it, backing up my views on vegetarianism, I actually feel as if animal testing is a necessity to a certain extent.

With the help of animals, scientists and medics today have the ability to help create new cures and methods of preventing diseases. Today, all vaccines are tested on animals to prove the efficiency of the medication that is being given to a human by his or her doctor. Many may agree with animal testing, after all, the testing on animals saved the lives of millions of sick humans all around the world and has advanced human knowledge.

Although some may think animal testing is cruel and inhumane, they should keep in mind how much it has benefited millions of people and the world throughout the last century. With the help of animal testing, chemists were able to discover new ways to help doctors perform things such as bypass surgery, joint replacement, and organ transplants and also advance in chemotherapy. Animal testing has also been used for food. This ensures that our meats are safe to consume and that any illness occurring in the livestock is less likely to spread.

Animal testing led to the advancement of science. The two things animals are used for is find out if the vaccine or cure is safe and efficient. Whether the product is helpful or not is looked at while doing animal testing. The purpose to use it on animals is to know how the products affect the living system. Various animals have different responses to the product. Some products could be helpful to humans and not to animals such as Aspirin or chocolate.

Scientists have been doing these experiments and testing for over 60 years. The testing is usually done on rodents or mice. Mice’s having a short life span makes it easy for the scientist to see the results on the new generations. The animal that has the most common organ or part as the human is tested. For example the cat’s neurological system is the most common as the human. Both pigs and dogs have the most common cardiovascular system as the human. Scientists search hard and work hard in finding the best animal to mimic the human body.

Through animal testing, the ability for medical procedures to be run safely and efficiently on humans has become possible. Open-heart surgery, which is now the most common form of cardiac surgery in the U.S, required twenty years of animal testing, is just one of these procedures. In the past, many diseases like polio and diabetes, which killed hundreds of thousands of humans, seemed unstoppable. The only way scientists were able to overcome these diseases successfully was through animal testing. One of the best accomplishments made with animal experimentation was the vaccine for polio developed in 1955, an epidemic that killed about 60,000 people a year. Today, people take the wellness and life span of diabetes patients for granted. Before 1969, the fear of severe diabetes was much, much greater. Patients back then with severe diabetes were only spared a few more years by following extreme diets and undergoing constant pain. The insulin was discovered from experimenting on dogs.

It is also very important to keep in mind that guidelines and laws keep laboratory animals in minimal pain and distress when being used as subjects for experiments.

Some may say it is inhumane to use animals in experiments. It would just as inhumane to test new drugs on children or adults. Even if it were possible, it would also take much longer to see potential effects because of the length of time we live compared to laboratory animals. For those who are against animal testing, a majority of them also eat meat or wear leather or make up without any guilt so why should their opinion change when it comes to animal testing when it also benefits human?

Although I am saying it is necessary to test our medications, vaccines, and necessities, I still don’t believe that animals should be tested on for things like make up. Cosmetics are not a necessity and therefore, it is not humane to place an innocent animal in that position.

This is just one view on this controversial subject! I would love to hear if you agree or disagree and why!