Pellis 1

Isabella Pellis
Mr. Hull
Honors English II
26 February 2016
Animal Experimentation
Oftentimes people do things that are unjust and cruel. The suffering of
animals does not outweigh the good for humans. When the information pertaining
to animal testing, harmful experimentation, and animal endangering is considered,
one could see how dangerous it truly is. It is wrong to experiment on living creatures
who cannot fend for themselves.
Animals have been used repeatedly throughout history for tests in order to
gain a further understanding on products and the effects they may have. To begin,
animal testing started when Galen, a Greek physician who practiced in Rome,
conducted animal experiments to advance the understanding of anatomy (Hajar).
He was the first to describe the complexities of the cardio-pulmonary system. Galen
also speculated on brain and spinal cord functions. He performed precise
experimental methods to identify the best instruments to use when performing
specific procedures. Galen is considered the founder of experimental physiology. He
used animals to prove his theory that veins carry blood rather than air (Day 37). His
experiments were conducted without the benefit of pain management because
anesthetics were not yet developed. The interest in anatomy and scientific
methods was reawakened when Galens records were rediscovered. An Arab
physician Ibn Zuhr tested surgical procedures on animals before applying them to
human patients. In 1514, Andreas Vesalius used live animals, usually dogs in his
classroom to perform a dissection. He would perform these dissections to allow his

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students to speculate on the bodys functions. Each year more than 100 million
animals including mice, rats, frogs, dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs,
monkeys, fish, and birds are killed for reasons such as biology lessons, medical
training, curiosity driven experimentation, chemical, drug, food, and cosmetics
testing. One of Andreas students, Renaldo Colombo, pulled a fetus out of a dogs
womb, and started hurting the newly born pup in front of its mothers eyes.
Furiously barking, the pup was held up to its mothers mouth. While licking it
lovingly, the mother showed more concern for her offspring than her own suffering.
When something other than her puppy was held in front of her mouth, she snapped
in rage. Observing this reaction the students were pleased to see an example of
motherly love even in a brute condition (Animal Testing: A Long, Unpretty
History).
Researchers use animals for testing because their bodies react similar to
human bodies when exposed to certain products. Animals are subjected to test the
safety of cosmetics, personal care products, household products, chemicals, and the
component ingredients within medical devices. The animals reactions are
considered to help researchers apply the results to how humans would react if
exposed. As a result, animal based testing methods continue to fail because animals
cannot communicate their feelings and reactions the way that humans can. Side
effects such as headaches, nausea, and depression may be difficult to detect in
animals (Day 21). Primates have been proven to be disappointing in the
effectiveness of their results. They are unable to predict dangerous side effects of
medications, most importantly the medications that result in birth defects. Tests are
performed on animals because it is believed the results will be similar or the same
in humans, but that is not always the case. For example, Nitrobenzene is toxic to

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humans, but not monkeys. Vaccines for polio and rabies were tested to be safe for
primates, but resulted in death for humans. Even the inventor for the polio vaccine,
Dr. Sabin, admitted under oath that the vaccine was delayed due to unclear and
misleading results on the primates. Isoproterenol doses worked on animals, but was
too high for humans and in some cases also resulted in death. Almost all currently
used medications cause birth defects in animal species, but not in babies.
Researches use animals for tests to try and protect the public from dangerous
chemicals. In the years after World War II, cosmetics became more popular.
Consumers reported that certain ones hurt their eyes and skin so eye makeup was
applied to rabbits, but they were given much more makeup then what was
commonly used. These rabbits were eventually blinded as the result (Hartman 12).
When live animals are used, this practice is called vivisection, a word that originally
meant cutting, or performing surgery on a living animal (Day 17). Scientists have
preferred or specific animal models. Sometimes scientists use primates, monkeys
and apes, for research because they are so similar to humans. Scientists studying
body structures or functions look for animal models that have characteristics that
make experimentations easier. For example the horseshoe crab is used because
they have large eyes with simple accessible structures. Dogs are typically used
because they have organs similar to the size of humans (Day 20). Sometimes the
best model is an animal that suffers from the same disease as humans; these are
called spontaneous models. Animals that are used for research because they are
spontaneous models are dogs with hemophilia, which is excessive bleeding, mice
with epilepsy, a condition that causes seizures, rats with glaucoma, a type of eye
disease. Cats that are deaf are also considered spontaneous models. Even though
these diseases and conditions can occur naturally, research animals are often bred

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to intentionally produce afflicted animals (Day 19). Other times researchers use
induced models. These are animals that were once normal. Scientists inject
chemicals to produce a particular disease or to create symptoms that mimic a
specific condition (Day 20). Mice and rats are often used because they are cheap,
have short life spans, and can be bred to have certain characteristics that make
them suitable for particular experiments (Day 18). Despite similarities between
humans and primates, our immune systems differ greatly ("Testing - American AntiVivisection Society").
Altogether, the number of animals used for research in the United States of
2004 was 1,101,958. 23,640 cats, 64,932 dogs, 244,104 guinea pigs, 175,721
hamsters, 54,998 non-human primates, 54,504 pigs, 261,573 rabbits, 19,218 sheep,
31,956 farm animals, and 171,312 all other animal species (Woods 122). Scientists
also looked at pound animals as a cheap and plentiful source of supply. While
scientists may be convinced these experiments are a necessity, they do not
recognize that animals are poorly suited to address experiments involving urgent
health problems such as heart disease, cancer, strokes, AIDS, and birth defects. Dr.
Mark Feinberg, a leading HIV and AIDS researcher stated, What good does it do to
you to test something [a vaccine] on a monkey? Youll find five or six years from
now that it works in the monkey, and then you test it in humans and you realize that
humans behave totally different from monkeys. Monkeys do not die from AIDSbut
humans do. (Woods 115; "Animal Testing: A Long, Unpretty History").
Due to the harmful experiments performed on animals, they are considered
to be the slaves of our generation. The same features that apparently make
animals good test subjects also makes them too close to humans for moral
comfort. That was said by philosopher Niall Shanks. Given that in the Old

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Testament, God gives humanity power over the fish of the sea and over the birds of
the airand over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the
earth. Yet humans have moral judgment and it is not moral to experiment on
animals that have no power to resist. Tom Regan, a professor of philosophy said, To
treat animals with less respect than humans is speciesisma form of prejudice.
People should protect and defend animals because they cannot speak up for
themselves. If humans wish to live up to their ethical natures, then they should act
with compassion; they should recognize that animals have inherent worth and are
not commodities to be used. (Woods 23). We are encouraged to be the voice of
those who do not have one. One day humans will look back and reflect on this the
same way they did slavery saying, Can you believe what they used to do to
animals? (Day 61). Often times one must consider how it would feel if the tables
were turned (Day 60).
Being that animal procedures are misdirected, animals should not suffer from
our lack of self-control. Animal experimentation is focused on the mechanisms of
disease, not prevention. Yet many of the leading causes of death in the United
States are cancer, heart disease, and stroke which are all lifestyle related. It is
unfair to purposely addict an animal to drugs in order to study treatments for our
addictions. If people had good dietary habits, exercised and controlled their levels of
stress this could all be prevented (Day 65).
To put it briefly, animals are used in experiments for three general purposes.
The first purpose is to find out how biological systems function or what factors affect
behaviors. The second is to educate and train students in medicine and science. The
third purpose is to test drugs, chemicals, or products to determine their safety and
effectiveness (Day 22). Experiments can range from simply observing the behavior

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of an animal to killing the animal to examine its tissues. Animals test products
through inhalation, ingestion, eye contact, and skin contact (Day 24). Statistically,
54% of animals experience pain, 37% are usually given a substance pertaining to
some relief, and 8% are not provided with any relief because the research involved
the study of pain (Day 34).
No matter what aspect of animal testing one is investigating, animal welfare
is an important consideration. Our planet is now in the midst of its sixth mass
extinction of plants and animals. We are currently experiencing the worst decline of
certain species since the loss of dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Although extinction
is a natural phenomenon, it occurs at a natural rate of about one to five species per
year. Scientists estimate that we are now losing species at 1,000 to 10,000 times
the natural rate, with dozens of animals going extinct every day. This could be a
scary future precisely, with as many as 30 to 50 percent of all species possibly
heading toward extinction by the middle of the century. Unlike past mass
extinctions, caused by events like asteroid strikes, volcanic eruptions, and natural
climate shifts, the current crisis is almost entirely caused by humans (The Extinction
Crisis).
There are things allowed in a laboratory that if one did to their dog or pet,
they would be arrested. In the year of 1981, Alex Pacheco was a volunteer who
worked at the institute for behavioral research. Pacheco took a camera to work with
him and secretly took pictures of the animals and the conditions under which they
lived. He sent the film to the media and after the pictures became public, Edward
Tub the scientists performing the experiments was charged with animal cruelty. The
genetic differences between humans and chimpanzees are smaller than those
between chimpanzees and gorillas, yet one still considers to insist that even the

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most basic rights, like those to liberty, life and protection from torture, are for
humans only. These rights should apply to animals as well (Woods 25). In 1966, the
Animal Welfare Act (AWA) was signed into law. The Animal Welfare Act was the first
federal law passed regulating animals in research. The AWA was addressed to
carriers, handlers, dealers, breeders, and exhibitors in addition to research
laboratories. It sets minimum standards of care that needs to be provided to each
animal. Including housing, handling, sanitation, food, water, veterinary care and
protection from weather extremes. It covers warm blooded species with the
exception of birds, rats, and mice (Animal Welfare Act). It is ironic how that
exception is being made on the two animals that 85-90% of experiments are
performed on. Many animals are killed once an experiment ends because the
scientist needs to examine inside the animals body to see what effect a drug has
had on them (Hartman 19). Any animal experimentation happening inside a
laboratory located in the United States must have a useful purpose, the animals
must experience little to no pain, trained professionals must be working on the
experiment, and there must be a clear end to the experiment, not when a result is
reached (Hartman 8). In addition to that, Marshall Hall, a British scientist, proposed
five principles of animal research. He believed an experiment should never be done
if the information could be gained by observation, without a clearly defined and
attainable objective, if it is an unnecessary repetition of previous experiments, and
if it is not carried out with the least possible suffering. If any experiment could not
be witnessed with these laws to regulate, Hall thought that scientists and their
intentions were cruel (Day 41).
Concerns over limiting the numbers of animals used for education has led to
the development of alternative teaching tools. Alternatives such as plastic models,

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video discs, charts, and computer programs. By using the advancement of society
with technology, we are sufficiently reducing the amount of animals harmed with
experimentation (Day 24). The National Research Council in the United States
expressed a vision of a not-so-distant future, in which all toxicity testings can be
done virtually. The explosive growth of computer power and high-speed robot
automation of cell-based screening systems has sparked a revolution in biology.
Together, these innovations have produced new tools and ways of thinking that can
help uncover how chemicals and drugs disrupt humans without testing the product
on animals (About Animal Testing : Humane Society International).
As a final point, not only is it inhumane to test dangerous chemicals and
products on voiceless animals, it is also harmful and endangering to the animals
being tested. When the information about animal testing, harmful experimentation,
and animal endangering is considered, it is clear how vicious and savage animal
testing can be. Animal testing is not just cruel and harmful to the animal, but
heartless to do and can be considered such a fierce action to an animal that cannot
stand up for themselves.

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Works Cited
"About Animal Testing : Humane Society International." RSS. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
"Animal Testing: A Long, Unpretty History." Medical Daily. N.p., 27 June 2013. Web.
21 Feb. 2016.
"Animal Welfare Act." Animal Welfare Act. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2016.
Day, Nancy. Animal Experimentation: Cruelty or Science? Hillside, NJ, U.S.A.: Enslow,
1994. Print.
Hajar, Rachel. "Animal Testing and Medicine." Heart Views : The Official Journal of
the Gulf Heart
Association. Medknow Publications Pvt Ltd, n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2016.
Hartman, Eve, and Wendy Meshbesher. Do Scientists Care about Animal Welfare?
Chicago, IL: Raintree,
2012. Print.
"Testing - American Anti-Vivisection Society." American AntiVivisection Society. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 21 Feb.
2016.
The Extinction Crisis. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
Woods, Geraldine. Animal Experimentation and Testing: A Pro/con Issue. Springfield,
NJ: Enslow, 1999.
Print.