Animal testing refers to procedures done on living animals for research to provide humans with a better idea of how certain drugs or products will affect humans. Some of these may include cosmetics, household cleaners, food additives, pharmaceuticals and industrial/agro-chemicals. Laws requiring testing have been around since 1938 but have recently sparked a concern in consumers due to the amount of inhumane photos and information released about animals in the lab and the lack of economic positivity surrounding the topic.
According to Cruelty Free International, “the US drug industry invests $50 billion per year in research, but the approval rate of new drugs is the same as it was 50 years ago. Only 6 percent of the 4,300 international companies involved in drug development have registered a new drug with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration since 1950”. As shown on the graph to the right, throughout the years there has been a steady increase in the amount of money spent on animal testing and research. In addition, this money is not only wasted when experiments are not successful but the funding for these tests are coming from citizens tax money. The opportunity cost of these decisions is that we are setting ourselves back by spending money where no economic growth is being made.
Although humans and animals do share a few things in common, multiple studies have shown just how different they actually are. For example, animals do not get most diseases we do, such as Parkinson’s disease, major heart diseases, many types of cancer, Alzheimer’s, HIV or schizophrenia. A recent study found that, “over 100 mouse cell types found that only 50 percent of the DNA responsible for regulating genes in mice could be matches with human DNA” and “out of 93 dangerous drug side effects, only 19 percent could have been predicted by animal tests”. If these are only a few of the statistics showing how little we have in common with animals, than there is a possibility that products on the market may not be safe for our consumption and use.
Other than just the economic factors that take part in animal testing, animal testing largely impacts the physical and mental well being of the animals being tested on. Often these procedures cause them a great deal of suffering and if not left permanently damaged by the experiment, many are haneously killed after being tested on. The graph shows the most common animals tested on in the United States.
Even though there are still improvements that need to be made upon the animal testing industry, over the past ten years many companies have discontinued animal testing and discovered new methods of testing, such as human cell and tissue testing (vitro), advanced computer modeling techniques(silico models) and studies with human volunteers.
Works Cited
Cruelty Free International, www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/why-we-do-it/arguments-against-animal-testing.
“About Animal Testing.” Humane Society International, www.hsi.org/campaigns/end_animal_testing/qa/about.html.
“Alternatives to Animal Testing.” PETA, 20 Apr. 2018, www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-experimentation/alternatives-animal-testing/.
“IELTS Academic Task 1 Sample Question - Pie Chart Showing Species.” IELTS Podcast, www.ieltspodcast.com/ielts-academic-task-1-sample-question-graph-7/.
“Number of Animals Used in Research in 2016 | Understanding Animal Research.” Understanding Animal Research, www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/news/communications-media/number-of-animals-used-in-research-in-2016/.
The Stillman Exchange. “Animal Rights: Economic Impact.” The Stillman Exchange, The Stillman Exchange, 3 Apr. 2014, thestillmanexchange.com/2014/02/25/animal-rights-economic-impact/.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with you; we need to find an alternative to using animals for drug testing. Animals are very different to us and because of that we cannot and should not use animals for testing. It's interesting to see how there's a wide variety of animals used in testing and out of those animals rabbits are used the most. The problem with stopping animal testing is, what else can we use for drug testing that would be ethical, there are not many other options to choose from.
ReplyDeleteThis is a pretty eye opening post to read and I entirely agree with it. I wasn't aware of how widespread animal testing was since it's deemed so unethical most of the time but like you said, animal testing is a cruel way for administrations to test their products, whether they be drugs, household products, cosmetics or more. I'm not entirely educated on the topic,but there should be better laws implemented since 95% of the animals tested on, including rats, reptiled and birds, aren't even entirely protected. The FDA hasn't had much growth or success in the past 50 years, and as mentioned in your post, animal testing has only become more and more common despite the fact that it's hurting these animals. There are other ways to go about testing products. Thank you for writing this piece, I found it really interesting.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your post, I searcher further into animal testing alternatives and I was surprised to see how many methods are actually being used to substitute the use of animal testing. For example,the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration have encouraged replacing animal tests with non-animal methods. Also, the Physicians Committee has stepped in as the Secretariat of the International Council for Animal Protection (in OECD Programmes-ICAPO), which allows works for the measures to replace, reduce, and refine animal tests within OECD guidelines and programs. Many organizations have stepped in to help end the use of animal testing. Pretty soon animal testing will be banned and seen as completely unethical with the help of Acts and organizations preventing it.
DeleteI agree with you in that that there need to be alternatives for testing medicines and drugs. Your piece was really eye opening and I know how passionate you are about animals, and I could tell this is important to you. I do think you could have been a little more bias and had a stronger statement that animals should NOT be tested on. However, you did have really good evidence and research to back up your opinions so it wasn't just an opinion piece... you knew what you were talking about. I never thought about how animals and humans are so different so it really does not make sense to test on animals, especially if they are being hurt and harmed in the process. I agree that there are other ways to test drugs and health medicines. Maybe provide more examples of those alternatives. Otherwise the piece was very interested and much needed. It's something people don't talk about because it's so casual to us. I am glad you brought the issue to the surface.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the stance you take towards animal testing. After reading this article I was not aware of how much money is spent for this cause just to put animals through the testing of cosmetics or other drugs. It is cruel to see that our tax dollars are going to something like this, that puts the animals lives at danger, only to have the outcome stay at the same rate. Also, why are we testing it on animals like rabbits and dogs to help prove that it is safe for human consumption, when humans are built differently than small animals? I just think this idea of animal testing should not be happening anymore because it is a dead end and our tax dollars are being wasted for inaccurate results.
ReplyDeleteI have never really payed attention to animal testing with the products us humans used, but after reading this post, it has really opened my eyes about the topic. I never knew that a lot of drugs are tested on animals to see if they are okay for human use, I figured the testing was to make sure the products wouldn't be deadly if they got in contact with an animal. It doesn't make sense for certain drugs to be tested on animals because as you explained in the post, animals are very different from humans and they do not catch many of the diseases that we humans do. If there is no relation between the animals and humans when it comes to what scientists are testing for, then it doesn’t make sense for them to be carrying out these studies because it will not benefit our use or knowledge of the drug when coming in contact with humans. Also mentioned was the fact that spending on these experiments has increased, but these experiments are being carried out as unsuccessful, leaving no economic growth. In this case, no one is benefiting from this situation. The animals are being used for testing with human drugs, which can be very deadly to them. The scientists are getting no accurate and needed information about how the drugs affect humans. And lastly, the economy is not benefiting or growing with this issue.
ReplyDeleteI think that opportunity cost does have a lot to do with animal research and how at face value with some of these numbers it seems that animal testing doesn’t out weight the benefit of new medications. However I would point out that even though only one drug has been registered since 1950 there are treatments and medications in the process of approval. I think that the reason as to why we are seeing a low approval rate of these new medications and treatments is because they have to go through numerous testing phases that is dependent on the type of treatment as well as rigorous standards set by the FDA. I do still think it is worth the opportunity cost to continue animal testing. There are many people suffering with not just HIV, AIDS, there are serious debilitating chronic illnesses in both animals and humans alike that animal testing will help.
ReplyDeleteI agree that humans may be different from animals, but unless we can find people to test these drugs on is there a better option? If we are trying to improve the quality of life for people through medicine we wouldn't want to harm a person if something were to go wrong, but instead an animal that was bread to be tested.
ReplyDeleteI agree that animal testing is not right and it gives me joy to see that the number of animals being tested is decreasing in many companies. I believe as science continues to advance the number of animals being tested will also decrease with it. Animal rights are as important as they have ever been and this has caused for increased awareness on animal abuse which many consider this testing to be.
ReplyDeleteAlthough animal testing is really inhumane, it’s an efficient way of doing business. Rather than trying out these products on humans and facing the legal consequences, in that sense it’s much cheaper. Although I would advocate against it because it isn’t humane, I can understand it.
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