Animal testing is a hot button issue that has arisen in recent history. It has many uses in this day and age. These uses include testing for household products, cosmetic products, and medical research. Many species of animals are used in these tests ranging from mice and rabbits, to dogs, cats, and chimpanzees.Without a doubt, testing on animals does come with some benefits, such as the advance of medicine and science, and a way to test the safety of the products we use before they are released to the general public. Animal testing is not all positive however, there is an ugly side to testing. Such as the debate as to whether it is ethical to test on living beings, and whether or not the tests that are performed on animals should be done.
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The most important point of this argument is that animals “do not have the cognitive capabilities of humans and also do not seem to possess full autonomy” (Liou). Because animals do not have the cognitive capabilities of humans or the autonomy, it is argued that they do not need full human rights because they would not benefit from having all of them. This does not mean that animals should have no rights, but it opens up the door to researchers and scientists who want to test on animals. It is also argued that if we are giving rights to lab animals, why would those rights not also go to farm animals? The food industry kills millions of pigs, cows, chickens, etc. The farm animal topic has also been used to argue that if it is okay to kill animals for food, then it should be okay to test on animals since they both have benefits that help humans (Rowan). Even though scientists are the ones performing tests on animals, they have a similar view on animal testing as the general public, and that happens to be somewhat ambivalent. Some scientists describe feeling guilt after performing tests on animals, not only immediately after, but sometimes for years, which is why the scientific community does not accept animal testing universally as many seem to think …show more content…
However, there are scientists that do not agree with animal testing. It turns out scientists are only marginally more supportive of animal testing than the general public. This is because when it comes to animal testing most people look at the issue “with their hearts rather than their heads” (Rowan). This is why some will be in favor of testing on animals such as mice and rabbits, but not cats and dogs. Those who are in favor of animal experimentation would agree that animals should be ensured the best treatment when being tested on, and to keep them in clean disease free environments. Other precautions that could be taken to reduce the amount of animals used in test is to only use them when there is no information on what is wanted to be tested, and to try and use less complex
The most important point of this argument is that animals “do not have the cognitive capabilities of humans and also do not seem to possess full autonomy” (Liou). Because animals do not have the cognitive capabilities of humans or the autonomy, it is argued that they do not need full human rights because they would not benefit from having all of them. This does not mean that animals should have no rights, but it opens up the door to researchers and scientists who want to test on animals. It is also argued that if we are giving rights to lab animals, why would those rights not also go to farm animals? The food industry kills millions of pigs, cows, chickens, etc. The farm animal topic has also been used to argue that if it is okay to kill animals for food, then it should be okay to test on animals since they both have benefits that help humans (Rowan). Even though scientists are the ones performing tests on animals, they have a similar view on animal testing as the general public, and that happens to be somewhat ambivalent. Some scientists describe feeling guilt after performing tests on animals, not only immediately after, but sometimes for years, which is why the scientific community does not accept animal testing universally as many seem to think …show more content…
However, there are scientists that do not agree with animal testing. It turns out scientists are only marginally more supportive of animal testing than the general public. This is because when it comes to animal testing most people look at the issue “with their hearts rather than their heads” (Rowan). This is why some will be in favor of testing on animals such as mice and rabbits, but not cats and dogs. Those who are in favor of animal experimentation would agree that animals should be ensured the best treatment when being tested on, and to keep them in clean disease free environments. Other precautions that could be taken to reduce the amount of animals used in test is to only use them when there is no information on what is wanted to be tested, and to try and use less complex