The Controversial Issue Of Animal Ethics Essay

, Research Paper

The Controversial Issue of Animal Ethics

The struggle against sickness and disease is not over, yet medical progress is being

threatened by activists who would end the use of laboratory animals in the search for treatment

and cures. Their well financed anti-research disinformation campaign is not the only weapon

used by animal rights activists.

The more extreme animal rights activists have used tactics of intimidation and terrorism,

for example:

April 26,1997, activists were arrested when they tried to force their way into Yerkes

Regional Primate center during a protest.

July 21,1997, The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) set fire to Cavel West, a horse rendering

plan.

July 5,1998, The ALF broke into a laboratory at Cornell University and released dozens of

woodchucks into the wild. (Americans for Medical Progress 2)

These are only a few examples of intimidation and terrorism that activists use to get their point

across. The animals used in those labs were all for ideal laboratory animal research. They were

not being used for cosmetic studies. They were strictly being used for medical purposes. Some

things that they were in research for were to study liver cancer, hepatitis, and to get tissues to

treat skull born birth defects in children.

In order to decide whether these actions taken by activists are right or appropriate we

need to answer this question: Are the benefits of animal experimentation worth the pain that the

laboratory animal experiences. Once this question is answered, the question of whether animal

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experimentation is ethical or not will also be answered.

The use of animals in the life sciences goes back to ancient Greece and the earliest

medical experiments. To learn about swallowing, ancient physicians cut open the throat of a

living pig. To study the heart they cut into its chest. For centuries, physicians and researchers

used animals to enhance their knowledge about how the various organs and systems of the body

functioned, as well as to improve their surgical skills. As this knowledge grew, new scientific

disciplines were born. First physiology, and pharmacology, and much later bacteriology, and

immunology evolved as animal experimentation became more widespread. Table 2 depicts the

great leaps animal experimentation has provided to the human race. This timeline is proof of

great advances gained from animal testing for human benefit. Without testing or experimentation

of animals none of this would have evolved. Human beings are not the only species who benefit

from animal testing. Table 1 depicts the advances in biomedical research for animals. Without

animal research humans and animals would still be dying or totally wiped out from these

diseases.

Advances for Animals

Table 1

Vaccines:

Rabies

Distemper

Canine Parvo Virus

Feline Respiratory disease

Feline Leukemia

Anthrax

Tetanus

Hepatitis

Nutrition:

Heart disease in cats was eliminated supplementing diets with Taurine.

This also prevented Feline Urologic Syndrome (FUS)

Heartworm:

A rapid and accurate test now facilitates diagnosis of this insect-transmitted

disease. Heartworm medication, also discovered through animal experimentation

is one of the most important advances in the history

Lime Disease:

Spread by ticks, this disease causes arthritis as well as heart and Kidney problems

in dogs. Animal research led to a vaccine to prevent infection, as well as more

accurate diagnostic techniques.

Endangered Species:

Many endangered species have a chance of surviving thanks to biomedical

research on in vitro fertilization and embryo transplant techniques.

Source: Partners in Research. .Animals Benefit From Biomedical Research.. http://www.pirweb.org/animals_do_benefit.htm (15, Feb. 2000).

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Table 1 Advances in Medicine Through Animal Research

Pre 1900.s

Treatment for Smallpox: Treatment for Whooping Cough:

One of the worlds most dreaded A highly communicable respiratory disease

plagues, estimated to have caused characterized by short, dry coughs. Species

two million deaths. Species studied: cows studies: guinea pigs and rabbits

Treatment for Anthrax: 1950.s

Disease marked by rise in body temperature, Prevention of Polio:

followed by depression, spasms respiratory or A disease marked by symptoms ranging from mild

cardiac distress, convulsions, and death. infection to extensive paralysis. Today the disease has

Species studied: sheep been eradicated in the western hemisphere. Species

1900.s studied: rabbits, monkeys, and rodents

Cardiac Catheterization Techniques: Discovery of DNA

A procedure which allows doctors to Determines individual hereditary characteristics.

insert a flexible tube into an artery or vein Species studied: rats and mice <

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