As I kept reading and watching videos about animal research,
I became confused of what to consider myself if I am for animal research or if
I am against it. I understand that without the help of the animals we would not
have increased our knowledge and would not have the advance in science and in the
medical area that we have today.
If researchers would continue with their studies, maybe one
day they would find the cure for illnesses such as cancer or Alzheimer’s
disease. I do understand that animals are not given a choice if they want to
participate or not in an experiment, but because of them we could be saving the
lives of many people. I am not sure if I am being biased but because of my
experiences working in a health related field I have seen children be in pain
and having to go through difficult circumstances like having multiple
operations. My perspective is that a child is also not given a choice when they
are diagnosed with cancer and have to experience pain because there are no
medications that could help them get cured. Then again why do animals have to
go through suffering too? I have morals and I consider that some experiments
are not necessary such as for cosmetics uses, toxicity or for military training.
For these uncalled experiments, we could instead be using the advance in
technology by using the human patient stimulator. I know there are laws and
regulations in the United States that regulates the care and use of animal
research and testing. But it is also the
individual that has to consider the morality of the experiments that should be
done properly and humanely.
So is animal research justified? I am not even confident to
say that it is. I think I can consider myself a “minimalist”. In which a minimalist
is someone who believes that animal research should be used for a good purpose,
but without causing distress to the animal. Maybe with the video that I have provided
explaining why animals are used in research might help you get a better perception.
Hi Ashley,
ReplyDeleteI also don’t know if I’m for or against animal research. It seems like such a grey area, morally. I feel like I am also a minimalist. I understand what you said about people not being given a choice as to their disease, however, I don’t think this totally justifies some of these experiments. After all, two wrongs don’t make a right.
I agree that animal testing for cosmetics is somewhat unnecessary, but cosmetics are chemicals too and they do need to be tested for safety. I’m not saying that I approve, but if cosmetics continue to be this huge of a market, their products need to be tested. However, companies should try and make their products as safe as possible using existing research instead of possibly duplicating experiments that have already been done. I also agree that technology has advanced so far in that human patient simulators should be a viable replacement for actually using animals, in drug testing as well as cosmetics research. While simulators cant completely compensate for real life testing, it would drastically reduce the amount of testing that needs to be done.