Animal Testing Argumentative Essay
Abstract
Animal testing which is also referred to as animal experimentation is the process whereby non-human living things are used in scientific labs to carry out various experiments. These experiments involves carrying out diverse tests on the animals to come up with an idea of how effective or dangerous a certain chemical or cosmetic will be when used on a live person. These tests are done prior to the release of products to the consumers that the analysts are not very sure about the effect that they will have on the human being, may it be internal or external. However not all animals are suitable for testing on potential products that will be used on human beings. There are chosen animals that are chosen and most preferred by the scientists. The animals that are chosen and preferred for testing possess characteristic that are almost similar to those possessed by the human beings. Therefore, the chemicals and cosmetics used on the animals being tested have the likelihood of reacting ton the animals in the same way that they will react on the human bodies (Hayhurst, 2000, p.6).
Over the past years there have been numerous controversies in regard to animal testing. Many people have criticized the use of animals in the testing labs. Various people have termed the process as inhuman due to various reasons. While many scientists term the move of using animals to test chemicals, medicines and cosmetics before being released to the market as inevitable, there are still quite a large number of people who are against this move. Animal testing is an ungodly and a way of violation of the animals’ rights to life. Animal testing has led to death of these animals and the number is estimated be more than 100 million animals that die every year. Once the process of animal testing is undertaken, it leaves the animal incapacitated and unable to reproduce while numerous are left dead. Animals are a part of God’s creation and therefore no one has the authority to interfere with their lives. The animals to be tested are confined in some of the most hostile environments whereby they undergo through harsh environmental conditions that are not suitable for their normal life. The rise in the number of animals that die while going through lab tests also posses a great threat to their extinction. In some instances, the animals to be tested are reared in the labs where the testing actually takes place. However, there are still other small companies that take the animals out of their natural habitants without replacement or bleeding their own. Other learning institutions are also victims of taking the animals to be tested from their natural habitants without replacing them, with new ones. This move is a great threat to animal extinction and may see the animals varnish from existence in the near future.
Various animals have been put in different environment in the labs that is not the same as the natural environment that they are supposed to be reared in. as a result; these animals have different adaptations to their new environments as compared to their initial natural habitants. Consequently, this adaptation to their new environments has led the animals to have a different response to the chemicals used on them as compared to those that are in their natural habitants. As a result, the chemicals used on the animals reared in the modified environmental condition portray different results on the chemicals used on them. Some of the results that these animals portray are different from those that are intended by the scientists. In some instances, the scientists may not know that the different reaction of the chemical on the test animal is as a result of change of their natural habitants. In instances where the animals that are confined in the test labs for a long time, the chemicals are released to the market. However, the results that are got when people use these chemicals and medicines are different from those that were intended. The use of these chemicals and medicines therefore pose health hazard to human beings (Watson, 2009, p.14).
Animal testing should also be discouraged when it comes to testing cosmetics. Many companies have used animals to tests their cosmetics products such as anti-wrinkle chemicals and hair gels. However, the results that the animals portray later prove to be far from those that are portrayed when people use the same products. This phenomenon is contributed by the different skin types that animals and human beings have. Scientifically, the animal skins and those of human beings are made of different genes and cells. As a result, the cosmetics tested on the animals give diverse final results when they are used on human beings. One of the factors that has contributed to the diverse skin types between human beings and animals is the fact that the animals are exposed to harsh weather conditions during the day and night while the human beings shelter in their houses. Consequently, the skin texture and the resistance to the cosmetics of the animals are much higher than those of the human beings. The use of animals to test cosmetics may therefore prove to be of less or no use in the near future.
Despite the diverse critics in regard to animal testing, there are still the positive sides to go by. While many people feel that animal testing should be banned all over the world, the move is inevitable in some instances. Animal testing is a great move that aims at ensuring that a specific chemical product or cosmetic is safe for use by the human beings. Currently, there are few chemical experiments that can be used to find the effectiveness of a certain cosmetic product on the skin of a human being. This has therefore called for the move to use animal testing to ascertain the effectiveness of various cosmetic products. Although in some instances the animals may not give the best results in regard to how effective a cosmetic is the companies undertaking the tests have an idea of the stipulated reaction of the cosmetic on a human body. In some instances, when the animals give negative results such as irritation on the skin when the cosmetics are applied on them, the analysts definitely know that the product has not attained the right standards for human use. As a result, the product cannot be released to the market once such negative results are experienced on the test-animals. Animal testing therefore plays a great role in determining the cosmetics that are suitable for human use and those that may cause severe damage to their skins (Fano, 1997, p.9).
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Animal testing is a great method of testing chemicals and vaccines that are to be used in the human bodies. The tests on these animals to determine how effective a vaccine is has therefore aided the scientists in coming up with some of the best vaccines ever. Very few people, if any, would risk being the first to test the effectiveness on their bodies. As a result, animals that have no objection and cannot defend themselves are used to tests these vaccines. Moreover, the life of the animals that are tested cannot be compared with that of a human being. The animals that are tested include mice and rats among other different species. The gestation period of these animals is less than that of human beings. These animals also give birth to very many young ones at a go as compared to the human beings. Therefore, there is always the availability of an animal to be tested even when one dies.
Some of the cosmetics products that are tested on the animals’ fur portray the same results when applied on the human hair. The positive results that have been achieved by the use of animals to test cosmetics that are meant for the human hair have seen various companies come up with different types of hair oil and chemicals. This has been made possible due to the animals’ far that has the same textual as that of the human beings. More so, the living cells in the human hair are not very sensitive to chemicals and as a result, various companies have come up with various hair products that can be used for diverse purposes on the hair.
In conclusion, animal testing has both its merits and demerits. However, the merits seem to favor the human beings more than the animal lives. The issue of animal testing will continue being addressed until a better and effective way of undertaking medical and cosmetics researches is found. It may take some time therefore to come up with a method of medical and cosmetics testing that do not integrate a living thing to be accepted.