Bergen Community College

ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION

Is there the human race and then all the animal races below it?

Mary Cruz Torres

Contemp. Moral Issues- PHR 102-006NP

Prof. Vanda Bozicevic
December 13th, 2017
 Is there the human race and then all the animal races below it?

Animal testing is "the process of using animals to test the safety of products" and to

study the anatomy and physiology of humans (GALE). This process began many

centuries ago in which living animals were used in vivisections and dissections, as in

the case of the philosopher Claudius Galen who used living pigs for his experiments. As

a result, he cut by accident a nerve of a pig and found evidence that the "brain controls

behavior and thought" (Gross 216). Even though humans claim that they cannot live

without using animals as tools for scientific experiments, all animals have the right to

live without cruelty.

If we search, animals have been on earth longer than human beings. Despite of that,

people test on animals because they do not care about the interests of animals. The

reason is that these tests benefit only humans. This oppression is similar to the way

women were denied the rights to vote. When the suffragettes decided they wanted to

vote, they were imprisoned. They were tortured and forced to eat almost the same way

as geese and ducks are fed forcefully at the foie grass factory farms. They "ram pipes

through the throats" of animals (PETA). Men used to say that women could not vote

because they had no “intelligence”; they were not men, almost the same way that people

today say it is okay to use animals for the simple fact that they are not human. And

people are right; animals are not “humans”. It is true that animals cannot drive nor open

an account at the bank. But that is because humans put in standards that make humans

"superior", and if you cannot reach those standards, therefore you have no rights. For

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this reason, Professor Bekoff states in his book "The Animal Manifesto", that every

animal has its own "special abilities", since no human can run like a leopard, or fly like

a seagull, much less swim like a fish. No species can be considered superior to another.

All species are unique in their own way.

In our society almost every product is tested on animals such as “cruel chemical, drug,

food, and cosmetics tests as well as in medical training exercises and curiosity-driven

medical experiments at universities” (PETA). Millions of animals like mices, rats,

rabbits, chimpanzees, dogs and cats die every year in horrible conditions due to

experimentation.

According to the American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS) in 2012, over 77,206

rabbits were used in lab tests. The most common tests are the "Draize Eye test" in which

the majority of cosmetics and other substances for the eye are tested, which are placed

in the rabbits causing in most cases, hemorrhages, red eyes ,and even ulcers; and "skin

irritation test" which consists of putting corrosive substances, which are left there for

weeks causing skin damage (AAVS).

Mice and rats are used in almost every experiment. They are injected with painful and

deadly diseases with the idea of finding the cure to help humans. Also, according to a

study done by PETA, mice get their tails and their toes amputated without any

anesthesia (PETA).

Chimpanzees are taken out of their natural habitat, caged and separated from their

families. Chimpanzees are used in the testing of pharmaceutical test, such as consuming

pills or drugs, which are introduced directly into their stomach. They are also used for

invasive brain experiments where they make holes with a drill, so humans can check

their brain and study it (PETA). Once the experiment is finished, chimpanzees are killed

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and dissected. Chimpanzees have been used for their great similarity to the human

beings. In the military field, almost 65 chimpanzees were used in space research

(McClatchy, APENDIX)

Dogs are used in “biomedical research investigating heart and lung disease”. People sell

them to companies or universities, so people can study them. Humans still use dogs to

proof the toxicity of some products (AAVS).

The harm people cause physically and emotionally to animals is very high. Mice are

animals that have a nervous system like humans. Mice also feel pain and suffer. An

article published in the esteemed Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine showed that

there is insufficient evidence that animal experiments serve humans (GALE).

It is known that the Drazed Eye test is not very reliable because the rabbits ' cornea is

not the same as that of humans. So it is almost impossible for the result to be the same

(Engebretson). It proves that the pain caused is really unnecessary.

Many people believe that because animals do not speak they feel no pain. The truth is

that these people are wrong. Animals like humans have nerves so they are prone to feel

pain, cold, heat, suffocation, fear, joy, love and more emotions. Animals scream in pain

when they are abused. They suffer when they are injected with harmful diseases that

serve only to help the human being.

There are a lot of people in our society that support animal experiments. Using the

argument that scientific experiments have been done during many years and had helped

to improve the health of humans through the creation of vaccines to save thousands of

lives. It is true, but let’s face it; many diseases had been created in a lab.

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People that support animal testing also say: if we do not test on animals, we will have to

test on humans. But everything is also tested on humans because animals are not 100%

like humans. So many different things can happen at the time of taking a new pill or a

vaccine. This is why the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has observed that 92%

of drugs that are considered effective and safe according to animal testing fail and can

cause damage to humans (GALE).

We must realize two things: one is that animal testing is an unnecessary damage due to

the large amount of technology that is present today; and the other is great hypocrisy

that exists in our society. This truth that few want to accept is called speciesism.

The speciesism is the "discrimination based on the specie" (Gale). Basically it is as

equal as discrimination by gender or skin color. It divides the animals into two groups

"pets" and "Other animals". People tend to defend those who consider themselves pets

by saying that it is unfair to do so much harm to such a cute animal. But when it comes

to the others, nobody cares. This discrimination has no basis, both are animals and both

deserve respect, affection and equality.

A reality is that changing a whole planet and its way of life is not so simple. Animal

advocates do not ask to experiment on humans because with our technology there are

many ways in which people can keep doing research without hurting animals.

Become an advocate for human rights. You can start from schools, making virtual

dissection; this will teach the new generations that we are all equal and all beings

whether animals or humans deserve to be treated with respect. Also try to follow the

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ideas of The Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) it seeks

to find ways to replace the use of animals in experiments.

To conclude, I must say that no one is more blind than those who will not see. The

reality is one; the animals are physically and mentally abused during each experiment.

There is no reason for this to continue happening, and although it was not fair at any

time to see the damage they have caused. I can only say that with all the technology

acquired we can make the change. We can start by taking the blindfold off, and letting

the world see what's really going on in those labs; the suffering of animals that are not

guilty for anything. It is because of man’s egocentrism that animals have to pay with

their lives. It is time STOP with this abuse and unnecessary suffering. The change is on

us. It costs you nothing to make the decision to not support the companies that test their

products in animals. Remember that it is not fair that animals should pay with their lives

for just giving us a luxury. The life of animals is more valuable than experiments.

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APENDIX

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WORK CITED

 "Animal Experimentation." Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale,

2016. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

ezproxy.bergen.edu/login?url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/PC301099922

0/OVIC?u=bergencc&xid=763ab163. Accessed 3 Dec. 2017.

 "Animal Testing Is Bad Science." Animal Rights, edited by Noah Berlatsky,

Greenhaven Press, 2015. Current Controversies. Opposing Viewpoints in

Context,

ezproxy.bergen.edu/login?url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ301095420

7/OVIC?u=bergencc&xid=0bcfa396. Accessed 3 Dec. 2017. Originally

published as "Animal Testing Is Bad Science: Point/Counterpoint,"

 “Animal Testing 101”. PETA. https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-

experimentation/animal-testing-101/. Website. Accessed 3 Dec. 2017.

 Bekoff, Marc. The Animal Manifesto. California: New World Library 2010.

Print.

 Chronology of Chimps Used in US Research Labs and Types of Facilities,

2010." Tribune Content Agency Photos, 2011. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

ezproxy.bergen.edu/login?url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/QDDQQU31

1482185/OVIC?u=bergencc&xid=1b126354. Accessed 3 Dec. 2017.

 “Dogs”. The American Anti-Vivisection Society. http://aavs.org/animals-

science/animals-used/dogs/. Website. Accessed 3 Dec. 2017.

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 Engebretson, Monica. “Seventy Years Is Enough: It’s Time to Put the Draize

Test Out of Its Misery”. Huffington Post.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/monica-engebretson/draize-

test_b_4604940.html

 Website. Accessed 3 Dec. 2017.

 “Foie Gras: Cruelty to Ducks and Geese”. PETA.

https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/factory-farming/ducks-

geese/foie-gras/. Website. Accessed 3 Dec. 2017.

 Frey, R. G. "Speciesism." Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Donald M.

Borchert, 2nd ed., vol. 9, Macmillan Reference USA, 2006, pp. 164-165.

Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

ezproxy.bergen.edu/login?url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX34468019

27/OVIC?u=bergencc&xid=da01c633. Accessed 3 Dec. 2017.

 Gross, Charles. “Galen and the Squealing Pig”. The Neuroscientist.

https://www.princeton.edu/~cggross/neuroscientist_4_98_216.pdf. Website.

Accessed 3 Dec. 2017.

 Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing.

http://caat.jhsph.edu/about/index.html. Accessed 3 Dec. 2017

 “Mice and Rats in Laboratories”. PETA. https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-

used-for-experimentation/animals-laboratories/mice-rats-laboratories/. Website.

Accessed 3 Dec. 2017.

 “Rabbits”. The American Anti-Vivisection Society. http://aavs.org/animals-

science/animals-used/rabbits/. Website. Accessed 3 Dec. 2017.