The Pros And Cons Of Meat Eating

I believe that there is nothing wrong with eating meat because it has developed humans for millions of years and is also a natural occurring process. However, I do believe that the method of which we obtain our meat including factory farming is unethical and needs to be changed. The amount of respect that humans have for the animals we eat is miniscule, and it needs to be fixed. Similar to Pollan’s viewpoint on meat-eating and the process of obtaining meat, I believe that animal experimentation is for a good cause such as medical breakthrough and research for developing pathogens. However, there is a big lack of respect for the creatures that we test with. With that being said, I do not support the unnecessary harm and brutality that some research animals go through. Pollan brings in an interesting reflection of Peter Singer’s book Animal Liberation. He suggests that “if you’re willing to make the effort, it’s entirely possible to limit the meat you eat to nonindustrial animals” (413). With this quote, Pollan explains that just because you like meat doesn’t mean that you can’t be against factory farmed meat. Factory farmed meat refers to farm animals that lived in an unhealthy setting, ate an unhealthy diet, and suffered unnecessary harm due to boosted production rates. Being a meat-eater himself, he acknowledges the fact that he probably won’t abolish meat, but he still makes an effort to slow the brutal industry by staying away from meats that were grown in a factory farm setting, and being a little more thankful for the animals that were sacrificed. I agree with most of Pollan’s ideas in his paper. He doesn’t want to completely ditch the idea of eating animals, but he does want to make a change to the process of obtaining meat. Similar to how the American capitalistic society has turned farming into a brutal, animal-suffering business, animal testing can be looked at the same way. Laboratory animals suffer in similar ways that many farm animals do. They are usually locked up in a confined area, and are sometimes deprived of food or water. Since they are used as test subjects, they go through lots of unnecessary pain, suffering, anxiety, isolation, or distress (Kehinde 57). Sometimes these emotions are even inflicted on purpose to measure the vitals of animals. (Penny Hawkins et al. 8). While there are many useful reasons for animal testing, I believe that unnecessary harm, sped-up processes, or extensive stress to animals are all properties that cannot be tolerated, like those of animals on a factory farm. According to Kuwait University’s Elijah Kehinde, there are five categories of animal testing which include scientific research, models for human disease, pharmaceutical research, toxicity or cosmetic testing and surgery simulation (54). While all of these topics are beneficial to mankind, I argue that toxicity testing is an unethical, and somewhat unnecessary practice. The process of toxicity testing on animals requires for the animals to undergo severely painful processes, and in some cases even death. They are tested on to determine the safety of substances in products such as cosmetics, household and industrial chemicals and food additives. In many cases they are …show more content…
Dating back to The Cruelty to Animals Act of 1876, mankind, especially the British, have been looking to protect laboratory animals and their rights (Lane-Petter 118). Modern protest to unethical animal testing has appeared in forms of laws, alternative suggestions, and improvements within the lab setting. For example, the UK passed the Animals Scientific Procedures Act of 1986, requiring extensive assessment in experiments that involve animals, then comparing the benefits of the project and the costs of the animal’s suffering (Festing and Wilkinson). Hopefully this act will eliminate animal testing that isn’t necessary for human medical development or survival. William S. Stokes, toxicity expert and zoologist suggests that practicing animal refinement (minimizing or eliminating pain in research animals) is a good way to enhance the well-being of laboratory animals. Animal Refinement relates to using anesthetics and tranquilizers, and providing appropriate veterinary care (18). I agree with this statement, and I don’t think that it’s asking for too much. The only thing some research companies would lose is a little bit of money to assure the end of most suffering for