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An Ma
Professor Batty
English 113B
20 February 2016
Testing for the Cure
While ostensibly animal testing is very beneficial, in reality it is torture to the animals
that go through the testing. Humans arent the only species that can feel pain. Animals can feel
the same pain humans go through. Thousands of animals like dogs, cats, and mice go through
medical and cosmetic testing everyday without a second thought. Some would argue that it is
better than testing on humans and the results have saved lives. That may be true, but would any
consider letting companies do medical tests on their dogs? Many people also believe that
prisoners should be tested on. As much as I would like to, it is still classified as inhumane to be
testing on humans. Although animal testing has saved human lives, it should be abolished
because the animals go through excruciating pain and suffering.
One factor that not many people think about when it comes to animal testing is that fact
that it is very expensive. A lot of factors go into why the testing is so expensive. In the article
Using Animals for Testing: Pros Versus Cons by Ian Murnaghan, he states that Animal testing
generally costs an enormous amount of money, as the animals must be fed, housed, cared for and
treated with drugs or a similar experimental substance (Murnaghan). If the animals arent fed or
cared for, they might die before any results can be gained from that animal. On another hand, a
lot of retesting might have to occur. There needs to be enough of the drug substance and enough
of the animals which will cost a fortune in total. With how the economy is now, this money is
better spent elsewhere.

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Pain is a feeling that most people dont want to feel and try to avoid. The animals that go
through testing dont have a choice. Because the fact that animals have no way of
communicating with us, there is no way to tell if it is in no pain, or in excruciating pain. Animals
like birds, fish and mice are not protected by the Animal Welfare Act which means they go
through a very painful and cruel procedure (Klazema). Even if the animal goes through testing,
the results gained from that testing may never be used because it would have no effect on
humans. In another scenario, the results may not be good enough and the same animal, if it is
still alive, will have to go through testing again.
The biggest factor that animal testing has is that the animals that are being tested on,
arent the same as humans. Even animals like primates arent 100 percent the same as humans.
Something that works for animals may not work for humans and vice versa. For example, an
aspirin can be a lifesaver for humans while an aspirin for a dog or cat can be highly poisonous. In
the movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a company is doing animal testing to try to find a
cure alzheimers. The main character eventually finds a cure through testing on a chimpanzee.
But later on in the movie, a lab researcher is accidently hit with treatment. It then shows that
researcher spread a disease killing plague that kills humans. Another factor as to why test results
are not reliable is because the animals are kept captive. If the animals are in their natural habitat
and not under pain and stress, there would be different results (Murnaghan). There also might be
different test results if more than one kind of animal is being tested. The fact that animals are not
the same as humans applies to animals also. A mammal might react differently than a reptile
would.
Although there are many cons to animal testing, there are some positives to point out. The
most important factor is that humans arent being tested on. The easiest way to save humans lives

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is simply not testing on them. Another factor is it helps improves research and human health.
Testing on animals is the only way researchers are going to testing on a whole-living body. Many
people around the world can thank animal testing for the medicine and cosmetic products
produced after.
Researchers might not find the answer to the disease they are trying to cure, it might be
the answer or a bit more information for another drug/disease. As mentioned before, animals are
not the same as humans, but animals is the closest thing to humans that can be mass tested on.
This may be true but there are also alternatives. Klazema mentions the use of a computer
simulation and giving the smallest dosage to a human to prevent any major reaction from
happening.
Animal testing is a major issue going on through the world without much thought. It has
its pros and it has its cons. It has saved many human lives by providing the medical answers
needed to improve and advance research. However, the cons outweigh the pros a lot. Instead of
putting all this money into animal testing, the money can be used to find an alternative. For the
animals that do go through animal testing, most of them are not covered by the Animal Welfare
Act. The test results from each testing might not ever be used. Mostly importantly, animals
arent the same as humans so the results from testing cannot be 100 percent reliable.

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Works Cited

Murnaghan, Ian. Using Animals for Testing: Pros Versus Cons.About Animal Testing, 8 Feb
2016. Web
Klazema, April. Animal Testing Cons: What every person Should Know. Udemy Blog,
13 June 2014. Web
Casey, Michael. Animal experimentation up 73 percent, study say. CBSnews, 26
February 2015. Web.