Animal Testing Should be Banned?

HANOI UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES FINAL ASSIGNMENT FOR ACADEMIC WRITING Topic: Nowadays animal experiments are widely used to develop new medicines and to test the safety of other products Some people argue that these experiments should be banned because it is morally wrong to cause animals to suffer, while others are in favour of them because of their benefits to humanity Discuss both views and give your opinion Name: Trần Thị Hồng Hải Student ID: 20176397 Class: NNA.04 – K62 Hanoi, December 2018 HANOI UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES FINAL ASSIGNMENT FOR ACADEMIC WRITING Topic: Nowadays animal experiments are widely used to develop new medicines and to test the safety of other products Some people argue that these experiments should be banned because it is morally wrong to cause animals to suffer, while others are in favour of them because of their benefits to humanity Discuss both views and give your opinion Module code: FL3043 Module Leader: Nguyen Thi Dieu Linh Student: Tran Thi Hong Hai Student ID: 20176397 Class: NNA.04 Hanoi, December 2018 SHOULD ANIMAL TESTING BE BANNED? Introduction Testing plays a crucial role in medical research to determine if what is being tested is safe for human use Since the late nineteenth-century animal testing has been performed to collect data for achieving medical advancements and over the years, billions of animals have been sacrificed for various researches This issue has been ignited a number of debates between proponents who appreciate medical advantages and opponents whose concern is animal right Tom Regan, a philosophy professor at North Carolina State University, states: "Animals have a basic moral right to respectful treatment.” (1985); in other words, experiments on animals should be banned because it is morally inhumane to cause animals to suffer from the avoidable pain However, using animals for scientific tests has proved its great contribution to the development of numerous live-saving treatments and the animals in these cases could be considered as “the unsung heroes of modern medicines” (Nogrady, 2016) The concern that whether animal testing should be banned or not has been a debatable issue and this essay will provide you the both-sided discussion Content Concerns about animal experiments 1.1 Ethical issues Like humans, animals also have the feeling of pain when being hurted To put in another way, ethical issues are the most important reason to put a ban on the using animals in experiments Throughout the history of animal experimentation, the idea of animal testing has started in the 3rd centuries BCE by ancient Greek philosophers Aristotle and Erasistratus (Hajar, 2011) Up to the 17 th century, a French philosopher, René Descartes argued that animals did not experience pain and suffering because they lack consciousness Nearly three centuries later, in 1989, Bernard Rollin, the principal author of two US federal laws regulating pain relief for animals have provided "scientifically acceptable" grounds for claiming that animals also have at least simple conscious thoughts and feeling (Nurunnabi et al., 2013) In fact, there is no doubt that the pain the animals have to suffer in experiments are similar to human’s physical pain For example, by watching mammals or even birds, you will see how they respond to the world They play They relax when things are good.They act frightened when having dangers It seems illogical to think that animals might have a conscious mental experience of play, sleep, fear or love like human Though animals lack the ability to express their feeling via verbal language,they still have right to live and enjoy their life with physical comfort, not to be mistreated by chemicals, stress or even killed in the laboratories 1.2 High cost but inaccurate results In the US, it is estimated that over 20 million taxpayer dollars is wasted annually to expose animals to drugs in laboratories (Mac, 2010) While a number of unemployed people have been struggling to survive and enormous families have lost their home because of natural disasters, the government still invests huge amount of money in many vain experiments The U.S National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently has showed that more than 90 percent of basic science discoveries from experiments on animals failed to create human treatments (Michelle, 2018) The failure of animal tests comes from different factors such as nausea from toxic compounds, discomfort and pain from induced syndromes, natural and experimental infections, etc This means most of experiments carried on animals are useless Moreover, it is difficult for developing countries to discover effective medical treatments by promoting such expensive experiments Their limited financial capacity should be spent on developing facilities, educational system and many other worthwhile programs rather than on these high-risk trials 1.3 Alternative methods - Key to release animals from laboratories Recent years, scientists have made great effort to minimize the number of animals which is used for medical research More than 50 years ago, British scientists came up with the principles of the “3Rs” including Replacement, Reduction and Refinement Briefly, Replacement is the method which avoid or replace the use of animals; Reduction is the restriction of animal use in each experiment or study consistent with the scientific aims and Refinement is the attempt to limit unnecessary suffering and improve animal welfare (Mackenzie, 2018) as the it is paramount, if the animals is not well, then the result of experiment will be meaningless In addition to the “3Rs”, many other reliable non-animal methods are available such as using human tissues, computer modules or cell culture and other modern methods Thanks to high advanced technology, alternative solutions may help scientists improve the quality of experiments without harming animals Benefits of animal experiments to humanity 2.1 Irreplaceable contributions Animal testing has contributed to saving human life The creation of vaccine have paved the way for animal testing and medical system Father of microbiology Louis Pasteur who invented the first vaccines for rabies and anthrax tested the effect and safety of his vaccine on sheep The success of this invention has protected millions of people from suffering rabies Besides, vaccines, which are developed from animal testing, allow the early prevention of numerous other diseases such as polio, measles, chickenpox, mumps Despite the difference between human and animal cell, biological similarities are also available, providing a basis for scientists to carry out their experiments In fact, animal testing has contributed to 70% of Nobel prizes in physiology and medicine In short, animal testing plays a crucial role in the advancement of medicine (Blakemore, 2008) Jon Klingborg, former president of the California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) claimed that ““These animals are heroes Their contribution to discovering life-saving advancements in medicine and science—for both pets and humans—is enormous; Thanks to the last century of animal research, we have achieved life-saving treatments for people and animals As veterinarians, we are able to treat more ailments and prevent more diseases, and that allows us to keep our pets living longer and healthier.” (CVMA, 2017) Not only human beings but also animals are beneficiaries of those tests Without animal research, millions of dogs, cats, birds, fishes etc might suffer dead caused by more than 200 diseases In some other cases, researching on animals helps scientists find out a measurement to save the endangered species from becoming extinct It is undeniable that we have obtained a great number of significant achievements on animal testing ground which can never be replaced by any other methods 2.2 The number of animals used in research is much smaller than killed for food It is difficult to come up with an accurate worldwide number of animals used in laboratories but according to the statistics in 2016 of website Speaking of Research, in the US, scientists have discovered approximately 27 million of animals in research while the total is nearly 10 billions; or only 1% devoted for science even as the 99% remaining is for other purposes It is estimated that the number of animals used for scientific research is 14 times less than that of animals died because of traffic In addition, there is a similarity between the scientists and the farmers as both use animals for the benefits of human beings even for food, production or for research No matter what the purposes are, animals are vulnerable to physical and mental pain As a result, instead of decreasing the number of testing animals, going vegan might be a better solution to save animals from the death and suffering In contrast, if an animal dies for science, it is not in vain but for the sake of saving human lives and may be considered ethical to some extents 2.3 Should animal experiment be banned? Animal research remains the subject of widespread debates and controversies all of us because the answer is not right or wrong 100% but it depends on the individual way of thinking However, the findings from different researches throughout history have proved that the benefits of animals testing has been overwhelmed the concerns Though the dramatic development of science and technology gives the possibility to have an alternative method for testing animal testing is a necessary evil, and should be allowed and limited rather than enforce strict rules Conclusion This essay has attempted to examine and analyse both drawbacks and benefits of animal experiment While having some drawbacks, animal testing should be viewed as an effective and important method to develop new medicines and test the safety of other products Scientists are making effort to minimize the use of animal for experiments; therefore, it is expected to come to a perfect solution in the future when the term animal testing is no longer exist while people are able to enjoy a healthier and even longer life However, there is a long way to go before people reach this scenario and testing on animal is still the primary method for medicine advance to rely on References: Blakemore, C (2008) Should we experiment on animals? Yes Retrieved from: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/3353960/Should-weexperiment-on-animals-Yes.html CVMA, (2017) Animal Research: How it Benefits Both Humans and Animals Retrieved from: https://cvma.net/publications/press-releases/%E2%80%A2animal-researchhow-it-benefits-both-humans-and-animals/ Hajar, R (2011) Animal Testing and Medicine Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3123518/ Kretzer, M (2018) Experiments on Animals Fail 90% of the Time Why Are They Still Done? Retrieved from: https://www.peta.org/experiments-on-animals-fail-90-of-thetime-why-are-they-still-done/ Mac, M (2010) The High Cost of Animal Testing Retrieved from: https://www.care2.com/causes/high-cost-of-animal-testing.html Mackenzie, C (2018) Animal research: is it a necessary evil? Retrieved from: http://theconversation.com/animal-research-is-it-a-necessary-evil-95815 Nogrady, B (2016) Animal testing: Could it ever be banned completely? Retrieved from: https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2016-08-19/animal-testing-could-it-ever-bebanned-completely/7748214 Regan, T (2011) The Case for Animal Right Retrieved from: http://www.animal-rightslibrary.com/texts-m/regan03.htm ... 20176397 Class: NNA.04 Hanoi, December 2018 SHOULD ANIMAL TESTING BE BANNED? Introduction Testing plays a crucial role in medical research to determine if what is being tested is safe for human use... harming animals Benefits of animal experiments to humanity 2.1 Irreplaceable contributions Animal testing has contributed to saving human life The creation of vaccine have paved the way for animal testing. .. result, instead of decreasing the number of testing animals, going vegan might be a better solution to save animals from the death and suffering In contrast, if an animal dies for science, it is not