If a person goes into a store, they can often find many products which have been the result of inhumanity. Everyday products like; makeup, vaseline, candy, even glass cleaner is used on animals to test its safety. Animals possibly can be subject to animal experimentation or put into horrible conditions for knowledge on human diseases. There is an ongoing debate on animal experimentation. While there may be scientific benefit of testing these products on animals, it doesn’t outweigh the harm and pain inflicted on these animals. Animal cruelty is also known to have a strong connection to domestic violence. It does not just hurt the animals, it hurts the people around witnessing.
It is a well-known fact that products are experimented on animals, but it is not known how often these experiments are and how brutal they can be. And the worst part, some cases of animal experimentation were found later not to be necessary. All of the pain, the needles, the cramped cages, the captivity, the fear, the stress, the panic, the death, are all forced upon these animals without necessity. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) illustrates, “Examples of animal tests include forcing mice and rats to inhale toxic fumes, force-feeding dogs pesticides, and dripping corrosive chemicals into rabbits’ sensitive eyes” (6).
The shuddering circumstances these pure animals are forced to endure doesn’t help the products. It doesn’t help science. It doesn’t help those who buy the products. When an animal feels pain while it is being tested, the results become unpredictable. Stanford Medicine depicts, “Poor animal care is not good science. If animals are not well-treated, the science and knowledge they produce is not trustworthy and cannot be replicated” (1). Animals have feelings and emotions just as humans do. Their bodies react differently towards experiments under the race of brain chemicals, which negates the experiment. All of the results the scientists gained are for nothing, as their results are now incorrect.
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Throughout the history of animal testing, there have always been others who claim its necessity. While they do not condone animal abuse, they explain that animals provide a predictable model that aids scientists in discovering medicines and many other products. Stephanie Liou, a medical doctor who writes for Stanford HOPES, demonstrates that there is “progress…to improve the conditions of laboratory animals and they fully support efforts to improve living conditions in laboratories, to use anesthesia appropriately, and to require trained personnel to handle animals” (Liou 2). They strive to experiment on animals in a safe way. They strive to be gentle, and they strive to cause them no pain. There may even be rules and standards scientists must follow.
Stanford Medicine promises, “Stanford researchers are obligated to ensure the well-being of animals in their care, in strict adherence to the highest standards, and in accordance with federal and state laws, regulatory guidelines, and humane principles. They are also obligated to continuously update their animal-care practices based on the newest information and findings in the fields of laboratory animal care and husbandry” (8). This does prove that researchers and scientists often care for animals, and even implement standards and guidelines dedicated towards the animal’s safety. It shows that they are trying to find humanity in the midst of natural inhumanity.
It is relieving to discover others who are benevolently striving to improve conditions for the animals being tested upon. However, while these conditions are considered humane and safe, there is no argument that the animals are still being held captive and experimented on. There are other options for experimentation. Bacteria, plantlife, fruit flies, and less complex organisms are considered to have less moral worth than a mammal. As mammals have emotions and more fulfilling lives, “less complex organisms [should be used] whenever possible” (Liou 16). Less complex organisms are known to have less emotions. Scientists are also developing ways to experiment on laboratory-born human cells and tissues.
There is also known development of advanced-computer techniques, which can virtually experiment “based on existing information and mathematical data” (“Alternatives to Animal Testing” 12). They also have technology that safely and humanely experiment on volunteers. These alternatives are methods of experimentation that are cruel free and also produce more effective results. As they are testing on human cells and tissues, there is no barrier between another animal’s biology and a human’s. This in turn increases the safety of the product the scientists are developing, as it has been tested on human cells and tissue.
Ample research shows a line between domestic violence toward pets and domestic violence toward humans. People who hurt animals usually don’t stop with animals. It is common for abusers or serial killers to be cruel towards animals first and then progress onto humans. Animal cruelty and other aggressive behaviors are indicatiors of non-normative development. Studies show if a child is mistreating animals, that can be a sign of neglect or abuse inflicted on the child. A 1983 study notes that animal abuse was found in 88 percent of homes in which physical child abuse was being investigated (Animal Legal Defense Fund, 2020).
In a study conducted by Ressler, Burgess, Hartman, Douglas, and McCormack (1986), the offenders that were sexually abused in childhood or adolescence were significantly more likely than those who were not abused to report a number of aggressive behaviors, including cruelty to animals and cruelty to other children. As victims of abuse, children find a sense of powerlessness. Abusers target the powerless, which leads to cruelty to animals. Another important factor for animal cruelty is sex. Males outnumber females on aggressive tendencies by a ratio of around 10 to 1.
Research shows that males are more likely to be cruel to animals (Loeber & Hay 1997). Gullone and Clark (2008), in their Australian study, reported consistent findings in their examination. In addition to being male, most offenses including animal cruelty were aged between 18 and 35 years. When looking only at animal cruelty offenses, there was a peak between 18 and 25 years. The risk factors for animal cruelty are not different than those for aggresive behaviors. Data on domestic violence and child abuse cases reveal a staggering number of animals that are targeted by those who abuse their children or spouse.
Animal Captivity is just as harmful as animal testing. Wild animals are surprisingly not as uncommon as pets as we think. Texas is known to have the world’s second largest tiger population due to the fact the citizens keep big cats as pets (Animal Legal Defense Fund, 2020). These animals are sometimes forced to perform or to stay locked up in small cages that do not fit their means of living or survival. Exotic animals like these need to be able to live in the wild and have the ability to move and eat and do their natural animal instincts.
Trading in wild animals is also another issue that is going on in wild animals is another issue going on for wild animals in captivity. Animal Legal Defense Fund, says that every year thousands of animals are put into captive wild animal trade. This leads the animals into getting involved in the blackmarket and roadside zoos, as well as backyard breeders. Involving more harm to these animals. Captivity can be necessary on some occasions on helping animals in need of helping and keeping them from dying out. The thing is though that is very much the circle of life, you live and die. We are messing with nature when we involve captivity animals and need to know how to defend and live on their own. They can’t be dependent on humans. It is cruel to them taking away their freedom and making them live a certain way.
Among the 382.2 million people that live in the United States of America, most people have pets or have had a pet that is near and dear to their hearts; now imagine that your own pet at home, or any pet you have interacted with for that matter is being tested on by large corporate brands such as ‘Arm & Hammer’, ‘Nair’, and ‘Biotene. Personally, I have two dogs that are my best friends and I have met many pets that I have bonded so closely with.
It deeply saddens me to find out a pet has died of natural causes, but to think that these helpless animals are being tortured and dying at the hands of experiments and tests simply disgusts me. These tests aren’t as simple as it may seem as there are lots of trials and experimenting in order to perfect them for human use that result in permanent damage to these helpless animals. Animals are on Earth to provide stability and companionship to us, not to be used and abused. They are just as deserving of humans in treatment and life as they fit into the same scientific category. Animal testing should not be allowed as it is inhumane.
According to scientists around the globe for centuries, animals fall into the category of mammals, as do us humans. The definition of mammal is “A warm-blooded vertebrate animal of a class that is distinguished by the possession of hair or fur, the secretion of milk by females for the nourishment of the young, and (typically) the birth of live young.” (Oxford Dictionary, 2020). In this situation, animals are helpless and have no say in what happens to them. They recieve no chance at life. It starts out with one experiment and if it fails, it’s continued numerous times and continues to kill however many more in trials it takes until it’s safe. Over time, the deaths rank up from an experiment for even one product. In my opinion, we should test on people who volunteer to be tested on.
Animals can be heavily affected by these tests whether they end in being left with serious trauma, diseases, lasting side effects or even death. “Animals endure chemicals being dripped into their eyes, injected into their bodies, forced up their nostrils or forced down their throats. They are addicted to drugs, forced to inhale/ingest toxic substances, subjected to maternal deprivation, deafened, blinded, burned, stapled, and infected with disease viruses. These treatments are exempt from anti-cruelty statutes, and worse yet, undercover investigations have exposed violations of animal welfare policies and cases of extreme negligence at labs and universities.”
To further support the statements in the previous quote PETA states, “Each year, more than 100 million animals—including mice, rats, frogs, dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, monkeys, fish, and birds—are killed in U.S. laboratories for biology lessons, medical training, curiosity-driven experimentation, and chemical, drug, food, and cosmetics testing” (PETA). Personally I don’t agree with animal testing whatsoever nor do I understand it.
Some would argue that animal testing is necessary and okay as it’ll let us know what is safe to use on humans. They would say in medical advances, it’s essential. I would argue that there should not be toxic chemicals or ingredients in the first place that would need to be tested if it were consumable or usable. The issues that these experimental medicines or medical procedures are typically for diseases or sicknesses caused by toxic chemicals in the world.
These experiments aren’t always reliable anyways as there is no guarantee. According to the National Center of Biotechnology Information, they claim “The high clinical failure rate in drug development across all disease categories is based, at least in part, on the inability to adequately model human diseases in animals and the poor predictability of animal models.”
This statement further opposes their argument as these diseases differ in humans as well, so it is a waste of experiments. For the ones who say animal cruelty is okay, think if it were someone that you knew or even a pet that you own was being forced to inhale chemicals, test new drugs, or have a hole drilled into their heads. Would it then be justifiable if what you love and brings you love and companionship was at stake for ‘medical advances’?
Millions of animals die annually due to these testings, animals that should have been loved or had the chance to fulfill their purpose, not even including all the animals that face future trauma and are forced to deal with diseases and psychological effects. Companies should not need to test on animals and if they did, the product isn’t necessary. It should be natural. No product is worth the death of animals. They are just as deserving of health and love as humans are.
There are so many factors of Animal Cruelty/Testing and how the result of certain actions can later affect animals and not just animals, but humans as well. From testing animals with human hygiene products to domestic violence. Animal cruelty and testing needs to end for the better of everyone involved.
