Bullard 1

Bullard Erika
Professor Batty
English 113 B
25 February 2016
Not to Kill but to Save Humanity
Animal testing of pharmaceutical drugs has been a popular, controversial issue we face in
todays world. It is a process that had been going on for centuries for many reasons such as
developing medicine, medical treatments and surgical techniques. Without animal testing of
pharmaceutical drugs where would society be? Who wants to buy an over-the-counter drug or
prescription, knowing that it hasnt been tested on animals that may cause harmful effects? The
human race is very important and is worth saving. Even though many people may argue animal
testing of pharmaceutical drugs can be cruel, it doesnt only benefits humans, but animals as well
because they are genetically similar, share the same illnesses, and can save many lives which
makes it justified to society.
There are several types of animals used in the laboratory for experimentation.
Each year, mice are

killed by mice traps, exterminators, animal control and shelters.

Why should society care if scientist kill animals to save lives that benefits human health?
The various types of animals that were used for biomedical research are rats, mice, farm
animals and primates such as chimpanzees. According to the Office of Technology
Assessment 17- 23 million animals are used in bio medical research every year, and
95% of those animals are mice and rats. Therefore, it is not immoral because people kill

Bullard 2

them in their house by calling exterminators because people see them as pest. So it is not
cruel to use them for animal testing that will benefit humans and animals as well.
Animals and humans are biologically similar. In the article Zoobiquity, cardiologist
Barbara Natterson stated, animals suffer from almost all of the diseases that human beings do,
but veterinarians and physicians never talk about this," As Barbra point out we are very similar to
animals. The different type of diseases that animals and humans suffer from is cancer, STDs,
diabetes, heart diseases and many more. According to the California Biomedical Research
Association chimpanzees share about 99% of

DNA with humans and mice share 98%.

Therefore, it is suitable to use them as research models because we have the same set of organs
that function similarly in the reproductive system.
When performing tests of pharmaceutical drugs, there are numerous types of
cures/ vaccines that were discovered. The different types of vaccines and treatments that
were found were insulin, polio, malaria, breast cancer, tuberculosis etc. Insulin was
discovered to save many lives of diabetics, which resulted from dogs having their
pancreas removed. Without the testing of dogs there wouldnt be medication or treatment
for diabetes.

As the American Diabetes Association states, there are 1.4 million

Americans that are diagnosed each year with diabetes. Which is also the seventh leading
cause of death in the United States. Just imagine that number increasing dramatically if
we didnt have insulin. Family and friends diagnosed with diabetes, wouldnt be here
today as we speak. The California biomedical Research Association states nearly every
medical breakthrough in the last 100 years has resulted directly from research using
animals. (CBRA Fact Sheet) meaning that every cure/vaccine was developed by animal
testing.

Bullard 3

The discovery of vaccines/cures benefits humans and saves many lives. Scientists
didnt find every cure or treatment for diseases but theyre getting more knowledge and
better understanding of alternatives in the future. Scientist found treatments to prevent
diseases such as the polio vaccine. Polio was a very dangerous disease in 1988 that
causes many deaths. There were 350,000 cases in 1988 and dramatically decrease to 233
Casses in 2012. Hepatitis B, a vaccine that was discovered which attacks the liver, was
tested on chimpanzees. As the associated press Texas Research chimps states, we
wouldnt Have a vaccine for hepatitis B without the chimpanzees and says the use of
chimps is our best hope for finding a vaccine for Hepatitis C .This statement indicates
that if we found a vaccine for hepatitis B by using chimpanzees. We can do the same to
find a vaccine for hepatitis C. which kill 15,000 people every year in the United States.
Therefore we should keep using chimpanzees for animal testing.
Animals benefit from the result of animal testing itself , not just humans. If
vaccines were not tested on animals, many pet owners and farm animals would die.
Millions of animals would have died from rabies, parvo virus, and anthrax. Treatments
for animals developed by using animal testing, were rabies, feline leukemia and treatment
of heartworms for dogs. Paralyze Dogs now have the ability to walk again, due to animal
testing on dogs and rodents. These vaccines have kept the animals from contracting many
different types of viruses. UCLA cardiologist, Barbra Natterson has been consulting
with the Los Angeles Zoo to help treat diseases found in animals.(David Wright) which
shows scientist care for the animals. In my opinion, without animal research, we wouldnt
be able to save animal lives, which would lead them to extinction. Animals would lead to
extinction because the animals would get sick and wouldnt have a vaccine to be treated.

Bullard 4

Since animals and humans share the same illnesses the vaccines are the same when both
animals and humans are being treated.
Many people believe that animal testing of pharmaceutical drugs cost taxpayers
money. In the Article, Reduction of animal testing to reduce government waste, L,Swa
stated, USA spends $16 billion dollars annually for animal testing at tax payers' expense
and is subject to massive waste and mismanagement of taxpayers' dollars. In my opinion
it doesnt matter how much the government spends on animal testing it benefits humans
health. The government spends money on dumb things anyway according to the article,
30 Stupid Things The Government Is Spending Money On, Michael Synder states U.S.
farmers are given a total of 2 billion each year for not farming their land.
In conclusion, animal testing of pharmaceutical drugs should be justified because
it benefits not only humans but animals also. Animal testing saved many lives and
prevented the spread of diseases from getting worst. Without animal testing, it is possible
for the human race to go extinct. Even though many people argue animal testing can be
cruel and cost taxpayers money. Both humans and animals play an important role in
developing cures\vaccines for diseases which is a threat to society. Scientist dont kill
animals for no reason, they help save many lives to reproduce. It also provided scientist
with new advances in the medical field. Thanks to the method of animal testing, it helped
many scientist gain more knowledge to have a better understanding of future alternatives
if possible. As a society we should continue animal testing to help humans and evolution
reproduce to prevent extinction.

Bullard 5

Works cited

ProCon.org. "Animal Testing ProCon.org." ProCon.org. 10 Dec. 2015. Web. 23

Feb. 2016.
California Biomedical Research Association, "CBRA Fact Sheet: Why Are
Animals Necessary in Biomedical Research?," ca-biomed.org (accessed Oct. 15, 2013)
AnimalResearch.info, "Diseases & Research," animalresearch.info (accessed Oct.
15, 2013)
Associated Press, "Texas Research Chimps Face Retirement, Relocation,"
khou.com, July 22, 2013

Bullard 6

David Wright, Cole Kazdin, and Lauren Effron, "'Zoobiquity': 7 Diseases Animals
Share with Humans," abcnews.go.com, June 12, 2012