Free Argumentative Essay Sample on Animal Testing

When it comes to creating a vaccine or a cure for a disease it is obvious that it has to be tested on something or someone before it is deemed to be helpful and safe. Testing has consistently been used as a way to find if something will work but animals have been the primary thing that has been used. There are benefits to testing drugs and vaccines before they are distributed but painful things are done to do the testing. Animals shouldn’t be used for scientific testing because they can’t give consent and it inflicts pain on them. 

Using animals for testing is cruel and it can cause harm to the animals. For instance, “According to Humane Society International, animals used in experiments are commonly subjected to force-feeding, food and water deprivation, the infliction of burns and other wounds to study the healing process, the infliction of pain to study its effects and remedies, and “killing by carbon dioxide asphyxiation, neck-breaking, decapitation, or other means” (“Animal testing”). This proves that animals are suffering because humans are doing tests on them to successfully create things like vaccines and it is not fair that animals do not have a choice when people use them for testing. It is also important to note that if these same tests were being done on humans they would not have to go through the same pain and suffering that these animals are going through just for the tests to be unsuccessful and their lives being cut short. When it comes to using animals for research it is wrong since they are suffering and it is not certain that something that was successful on them will be successful on humans. 

Some people claim that animals should be used for scientific testing because it can bring forth several medical benefits. For example, “Animal research has contributed to major advances in treating conditions such as breast cancer, brain injury, childhood leukemia, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis, tuberculosis, and more” (“Animal testing”). In addition, animals and humans are so biologically similar, they have the same set of organs that function in the same way with the help of a bloodstream and central nervous system and they are susceptible to several of the same conditions and illnesses, including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes (“Animal testing”). Thanks to animals being so similar biologically to humans they helped create treatments that have been successful in helping humans with diseases. However, there are differences between animals and humans that can be crucial. For example, “Some chemicals that are ineffective on (or harmful to) animals prove valuable when used by humans. Aspirin, for example, is dangerous for some animal species. Intravenous vitamin C has shown to be effective in treating sepsis in humans, but makes no difference to mice” (“Animal Testing”).  This is important because it means that if something is harmful to an animal it can help a human and it could also mean the opposite, if something like a vaccine was successful on an animal, there is a possibility that it could cause harm to a human. Animals being used for testing can allow research on disease cures to be more successful but it doesn't mean it is the best alternative.

Testing on animals shouldn’t be used because it is unethical and it causes a lot of harm to the animals that are being tested on. Scientific testing has been the cause of deaths and painful wounds toward animals. Though testing on animals has caused them harm, it has helped create plenty of successful treatments to cure diseases. Although there are benefits to using animals for testing it is not fair that they are suffering because they are being used to test possible cures when there are other alternatives that can be done with humans and that involve their consent.