Drug companies and the cosmetics industries still do a wide variety of tests and trials on animals. Is this cruelty worth the benefits?
"Animal research has contributed to many medical advances which we now take for granted. Antibiotics, anaesthetics, organ transplants and insulin for diabetes are just some of the breakthroughs that have depended on animal research. The polio vaccine alone has saved millions of lives. And Herceptin was not only developed and tested in mice, it actually comes from mice. This modern medicine can save the lives of women with breast cancer." Festing, S. 2008.
So the question is "Does the sanctity of life extend to the rest of the animal kingdom?"
Are these tests really necessary? PETA think not.
"Most of these barbaric and senseless experiments are funding by the federal government using the public’s tax dollars and by health charities, including the American Cancer Society, the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the March of Dimes who are wasting precious dollars on cruel, irrelevant experiments on animals instead of spending the money on promising human-based research." PETA. 2011.
What do you think?
References:
Festing, S. 2008. Animal Research Saves Lives. (online article, available 13th October 2011 at http://www.guardian.co.uk)
PETA. 2011. Animal Testing 101. (online article, available 13th October 2011 at http://www.peta.org)
"Animal research has contributed to many medical advances which we now take for granted. Antibiotics, anaesthetics, organ transplants and insulin for diabetes are just some of the breakthroughs that have depended on animal research. The polio vaccine alone has saved millions of lives. And Herceptin was not only developed and tested in mice, it actually comes from mice. This modern medicine can save the lives of women with breast cancer." Festing, S. 2008.
So the question is "Does the sanctity of life extend to the rest of the animal kingdom?"
Are these tests really necessary? PETA think not.
"Most of these barbaric and senseless experiments are funding by the federal government using the public’s tax dollars and by health charities, including the American Cancer Society, the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the March of Dimes who are wasting precious dollars on cruel, irrelevant experiments on animals instead of spending the money on promising human-based research." PETA. 2011.
What do you think?
References:
Festing, S. 2008. Animal Research Saves Lives. (online article, available 13th October 2011 at http://www.guardian.co.uk)
PETA. 2011. Animal Testing 101. (online article, available 13th October 2011 at http://www.peta.org)
I think that it is against the animal rights, since the chemicals inkected into them could be deadly. But currently there is no alternative solution of who it could be tested on other than animals. It's too dangerous, and too immoral to test on humans, since we dont know what terrible side effects it would cause;
ReplyDeleteBut you think that human rights outweigh animal rights?
ReplyDeleteYes, it is true that animal rights are violated when testing them in order to find out if drugs invented are effective. However, animal rights are violated in different ways too for no purpose. Fishing for example or the shooting of wild animals also violates animal rights, and these activities are not in the benefit of research, they are simply activities perfomed by humans. It will be unfair to say that human rights outweigh animal rights. However, these drugs cannot be tested on anything else than animals and serves in the benefit of humans. Given the fact that animal rights are violated, it is still the only way science can evolve.
ReplyDeleteA valid point Isabelle, but should we then make very strict guidelines about to what extent the rights of animals can be compromised.
ReplyDeleteIf so then where should the line be drawn?
I think both animal and human rights should have an equal value and shouldn't outweigh one another, especially since the results of animal testing can't always bear an accurate prediction of their effect on humans, which causes the animals to simply suffer in vain
ReplyDelete