Experimentation on animals is a controversial topic with many people holding different views with regards to its ethics and scientific benefits. However, this essay will be examining the evidence of this issue.
Firstly, experiments on animals are not a new practice, as it has been practiced for centuries in different fields of science including medicine, surgery, genetics, and pharmacology. For instance, recently a drug company has announced its discovery of a new medication used for reducing weight, however, before administering such medication to humans, they had to perform a few trials on rats to see if any complications can occur from this medication. Although, some people may think that it’s unethical to have rats undergo this experiment with potentially fatal complications from this new unknown medication, it’s of paramount important to recognize that if no such experiment was done, the medication would not be approved for human use, and obesity and its comorbidities carry a much higher risks on humans in the long term.
Secondly, even if a decision is made to outlaw such practice, no other alternative effective methods are present to test new medications, and novel surgical techniques making such practice irreplaceable. This would also results in delaying science discoveries and that would effect millions of human beings instead of few animals.
Thirdly, it is important to value animals lives, and scientists should minimize its use and only perform animal experiments when it’s extremely necessary with great emphasis on implementing the highest standards of ethics when dealing with experimental animal.
In conclusion, having examined the evidence, it’s clear that this issue has no easy answer. However, I’m inclined to believe that such experiments are obligatory for human development and are unfortunately irreplaceable. I hope in the future that national federations would implement strict rules and issue ethical guidelines for the use of animals in experiments.