Etheridge 1

Alexus Etheridge
Prof. Anna Deadrick
English 102
01 April 2016
Animal Testing
A touchy subject that is, and probably will always be fought over is the industry of using
animals for testing products. Animal testing is used in various fields such as the medical,
cosmetic, and food. This practice dates back to 384 BC when Aristotle would use animals for his
studies. Though there are purposes for the animal testing there is controversy behind it. Some say
that animal testing is unethical and inhumane; meaning that animals are living creatures and that
it is wrong to take advantage of their helplessness. While others say that animal testing saves
lives and advances the things humans use/need in life. While looking though the sources, one can
see the positive and negative side of animal testing. And most importantly, there are other
alternatives.
The source that gave the best over view and background on animal testing was, Animal
Testing and Medicine, by Rachel Hajar. This article was found on the NCBI website. It is a
website all about Medicine and Health. The article starts by briefly saying the origin of animal
testing. After the background it goes on to talk about why animal testing is needed, which is why
I chose this article. To back up their thesis they use examples of drug failures that might have
been solved had animal testing been used as a test trial before giving the drug out for human
consumption. One example was a pain killer used in the 1950s and 60s that should not have
been used by pregnant women. This is because the drug caused the womens children to be born
with missing limbs. The practice of using animals in biomedical research has led to significant
advances in the treatment of various diseases (Hajar, Animal Testing and Medicine). The

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point the author was trying to make was that animal testing could have helped in determining
side effects and that pregnant women could not use the drug.
Another article that aided to not use animal testing was. Can We Eliminate Animal
Testing from Medical Research, by Teal Burrell. The main reason this article was chosen was
because it talked about an alternative to animal testing. The article is about using a microchip to
mimic organ functions. Using human cells to create the artificial organs the microchip keeps it
functioning properly. But in recent decades, weve realized the limitations of animal models. In
some cases, animal organs and systems serve as passable stand-ins for their human equivalents,
but in many cases they do not (Burrell, Can We Eliminate Animal Testing from Medical
Research?). The purpose of creating this method is to lessen the amount of animals being tested
on. Not only that, but the test subjects DNA are not 100% like human DNA therefore the results
on an animal could be different on a human sometimes. To avoid that the microchip on the
human cell created organs not only are cruelty free to animals, but they cancel out the variable of
there being a DNA difference.
Pros and Cons of Animal Testing, by the Health Research Funding organization was
chosen because it gives negative and positive aspects on animal testing. Another thing that was
helpful was the videos that were on the page as well. This page did a nice job of giving an
overview of animal testing. It is a good website to look at to get general ideas to look into more.
The page splits into pros and cons but under those categories there are the reasonings behind
them. The reasons are short and concise, but give the viewer ideas for topics to cover if they
were to argue for either being pro-animal testing or anti-animal testing. The website was not
biased; the organization gave both sides of the issue without giving their personal view.

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The last website chosen was About Animal Testing, by the Human Society
International. This source was about what animal testing is. Though it favored the more antianimal testing side, it was good at explain why. It gave a definition of animal testing and even
gave the areas of study that animals are used for testing. One shocking fact is that animals are
tested on for home cleaning supplies. After giving the definition the article is split by a question
as a subtitle the body is the elaborated answer to the question. It gives the types of animals that
are used along with the statistics. Another fact that was surprising was that some animals are not
included in the statistic of 115 million animals being used for testing per year. in the United
States, up to 90 percent of the animals used in laboratories (purpose-bred rats, mice and birds,
fish, amphibians, reptiles and invertebrates) are excluded from the official statistics (Human
Society International About Animal Testing). The article too says that animal testing is not
always going to match because of DNA difference. It gives alternatives and why companies
should not use animal testing anymore. This would be a source to back up why animal testing
should not be used.
Animal testing is a controversial topic that never seems to fade. People argue if it is
ethical, reliable, and/or beneficial. Some people are for or against and these four articles helped
establish a base of the subject. From the articles the viewer can pick a side to argue for. Some
articles offered statistical evidence to back each side, and others gave ideas to argue for or
against. Is there a way already to achieve more successful results than animal testing, that way it
can be stopped completely?

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Works Cited
Pros and Cons of Animal Testing. Health Research Funding. Health Research Funding, 24
Feb 2014. Web. 29 Mar 1016.
Burrell, Teal. Can We Eliminate Animal Testing from Medical Research?. Nova Next. PBS, 07
Aug 2013. Web. 29 Mar 2016.
Hajar, Rachel. Animal Testing and Medicine. NCBI. Us National Library of Medicine
National Institutes of Health, Jan-Mar 2011. Web. 29 Mar 2016.
Human Society International. About Animal Testing. Human Society International, 2016.
Web. 29 Mar 2016.

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Grading Criteria

Thoughtful,
well carried
out 5 points

Minimal
passing
effort 3
points

Not
attempted
0 points

General understanding of the assignment:

No argument/position in the introduction
and body of the essay your approach is
open-minded, not settled on one side
Introduction establishes the NEED for
exploration:

the topic is relevant to a large

group
it is timely
debatable
multiple (more than yes/no or
for/against) viewpoints exist
Content: sources are carefully chosen; they
consider alternative views or gradually build
up your understanding of the topic
Development: you offer new, relevant
input and respond to it thoughtfully
Conclusion is satisfying to reader,
explaining how the process of exploration
has affected your thinking on the issue you
are investigating
Informational literacy: source material is
incorporated correctly and effectively so that
all borrowed facts, ideas, and words are
documented and quotes are not left hanging
Organization: the paper has all the
requested parts; each source is considered
separately (not integrated with others)
Follows MLA Standards
Works Cited page is complete and correct.
All sources are cited correctly within the
essay.
Mechanics/Usage/Grammar
Total

A = 45 40

B = 35 39

C = 27 34

D = 21 26

F = 20 Below

Reminders:
Length - 4-7 pages long
Sources - 3-5 reputable sources (no random dot com sources; use dot gov/org/edu OR
articles written by people with appropriate credentials or published in respected journals,
etc).
You will receive a failing grade for the assignment if:

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From beginning to end you present an argument a formulated position on the topic
your paper does not meet length or source requirements
more than half of your sources do not have an author and exist on a commercial
website only (not a book, not an article for a journal, etc)
your paper does not include a Works Cited Page
your assignment is not submitted by the stated deadline