Animal Cruelty - Research Paper Example

Animal Cruelty. A growing debate among animal rights activist the world over revolves the use of animals as s forscientific studies and experiments. This is particularly so in the medical world which relies on animals to carry out research that leads to the development of new medicines. Animals are used the world over by scientists in their efforts at developing new medicines and testing both efficacy and safety of their medicines. In majority of the experiments, animals have to suffer excruciating pains while at the same time their quality of life is significantly affected in the negative. This raises questions of ethical and animal rights violations as well as whether there are no alternative methods for drug development and testing. Animal rights crusaders content that use of animals as subjects in scientific experiments is both cruel and unethical. In this paper I will be illuminating on the problems of animal testing and what can be done to prevent the same. Animal issue is a very important issue as it contributes to the much needed development of medicines that save human life. But the same time the quality of life when it comes to the animals used in the experiments is adversely affected. The animals suffer prolonged pain, they are alienated from their natural ecosystems and therefore forced to lead normal lives. What this means is that animals’ rights are grossly violated when they are used experimentally; they are separated from their natural ecosystems, denied their inherent rights such as that to mate and chose mates as well as to choose what to eat and not. Many of the animals used in experiments end up losing their lives in the process. It raises an important issue i.e. if it is not right cause suffering for animals then animal experimentation results in moral problems that are serious (Illman, 2008). It is a very important global issue especially considering the rise in terminal illnesses requiring new types of medication. Scientists and medics the world over are busy in search for medicines that can cure conditions such HIV AIDS, cancer, hepatitis B and many other deadly conditions that have no sure cure. This means a lot of research and experimentation is on-going globally and therefore use of animals for testing of drug efficacy. As for my audience the topic is particularly important as it involves important of morality and ethics in treating animals. Animals for instance have rights to live in their natural wild environments, reproduce and lead better lives. Using them to test biological substances whereas helps in the development of human medicine, adversely impacts on the quality of life these animals lead. It is thus imperative for the global community to reduce the number of animals being used in experiments, refine the experimental procedures and care for experimental animals & replace animal experiments with alternative methods (BBC, 2014). The Historical Context of Animal Testing. The history of scientific experimentation with animals in the United Kingdom dates back to the 17th century with the Harvey’s experiments which involved various animal species with the aim of demonstrating blood circulation. Across the entire Europe, use of animal subjects in science research experiments expanded rapidly throughout the 19th century. This expansion was attributed to the development of anaesthetics. Lack of anaesthetics had rendered experimental use of animals impossible. The UK parliament in the year 1876 successfully passed the Cruelty to Animals Act. This was the first law particularly intended to regulate experiments on animals. Animal testing is also increasingly becoming an issue in the United States. Contrary to the legislations present n the UK, Scandinavia and other countries of Europe, scientists in America can still some good amount of freedom. However, activism has increase and now scientists are being forced adhere to ethical and welfare standards when experimenting with animals (Murnaghan, 2015). Growth of the medical profession especially in the 19th and 20th centuries occasioned a further rapid expansion in research using animals and meant more animals used. Another act of parliament was passed again passed again in 1968 in the name of the Medicines Act; it offered clear guidelines on the use of animals in testing drug safety following the Thalidomide tragedy. This saw the number of animals being used for medical research experiments rise to more than 5.5 million in the year 1970 but this was again followed by a sharp decline in the numbers. The expansion reflected growth in the field of medicine; animals played a role in majority of the advancements that were witnessed during the 20 century. The elimination of smallpox, development of insulin injection, penicillin and the vaccine for polio were all fruits of experiments with animals as subjects. The Animals (Scientific Procedures) was passed in 1986 setting higher standards of animal welfare across laboratories in the UK. EU’s Directive 2010/63 of the year 2010 seeks to harmonise standards in animal laboratories across the EU with the major goal of improving welfare. As at 2013 the directive had already been passed into law by the UK and many other EU member states are in the process of making it law(Murnaghan, 2015). Animal Testing Global context Globally, animal testing is a common practice and one that is fraught with debates and controversies. This is particularly there is an increase in awareness when it comes to the experimental use of animals. Throughout the history of the practice, there have been objections. The 19th century saw a rapid increase in biological tests for medicines and these lead to a rise in the number of animals being used. This was followed by emergence of various organizations whose aim was defending animals and protecting them against use in experiments. A significant amount of information on animal testing was published in the 1990s which created public outcry against the practice. Britain for instance responded to the increasing awareness by banning animal testing for cosmetics. One organization leading the way in the campaigns for animal rights is the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). This and many other groups have exposed the cruelty that animals are subjected during experiments thus receiving significant attention of the media while at the same time reaching millions of people globally(Taylor, Gordon, Langley and Higgins, 2008). There have been even cases of threats of violent attacks on researchers as well as their families forcing most researchers to require the protection of bodyguards. Scientists, especially those using primates have had to face even arson attacks and violence. In 2006, a researcher at one US University had to halt his research work in respond to threats and demonstrations by those opposed to animal testing. In 2007, a bomb was even found placed under one researcher’s car. Nevertheless, the practice has continued to exist with statistics showing that thousands of animals are still being used. Attempts at reconciling public demand with the need for freedom of scientific inquiry have yielded legislations on animal testing in some nations. One requirement of the legislations is to collect and publish statistics on the use of animals. This is crucial for creation of transparency, accountability to the public and informed arguments as well as efficiency in regulation. Under EU’s Directive 86/609/EEC the number of vertebrates should be documented and submitted to EC by member countries. Statistics by the EU as at 2005 revealed that 12.1 million were used EU member states. It will be noted that this is under-estimation as certain animal forms and experimental procedures are not included. Many countries such as the US publish the information while other such as the us produce very little information that excludes many species of animals used in experiments such as rats, fish, mice, birds, reptiles and amphibians (Taylor, Gordon, Langley and Higgins, 2008). As such global estimates are widely inaccurate. In 1970 it was estimated that between 100 and 200 million animals were used, as at 1993 estimates stood at between 60 to 85 million and in 2005, 50-100 million. Research Defense Society of UK contents global totals could be 50 million every year. Increasing efforts to avail the statistics by nations was fuelled largely by Directive 86/609/EEC and the ban in 1998 by Britain, the use of animals in experiments for cosmetics. Today, animal testing is taking place in countless placed the world over, universities, schools of medicine, pharmaceutical companies and military establishments are using animals in research. Students and their lecturers are using animal tests in universities to gain more knowledge on the anatomy and physiology of humans as well as develop drugs. Universities are often scrutinized when it comes to animal testing but offenses still occurs such as was the case in experiments involving primates at Cambridge University. Medical research is particularly important for human life. Medical schools are thus strong supporters of animal testing for it assists in improving medical knowledge in terms of preventing, treating and managing diseases. Medical schools also support alternative techniques where appropriate. Major universities in the US and UK for instance are now resorting to alternatives techniques as a replacement to the traditional animal testing (RDS, 2007). Pharmaceutical and biotech companies are constantly engaging in research to develop new breakthrough drugs. Drugs require rigorous testing pharmaceutically & clinically hence prior to testing with humans they are given to animals. This helps scientists understand drug metabolism, modes of action and efficacy. But the tests must not carry risk levels that are unacceptable. Testing on animals is also taking place in military establishments for the purpose of developing biochemical weapons as well as understanding the effects such weapons on humans. The objective is to understand effects of weapons such as viruses that may be used by enemies and this is for the protection of the public. Animal testing is therefore widespread and is taking place sometimes even in place most people have not imagined. The question is whether the experiments are adhering to ethical standards as well as regulations on laboratory use of animal subjects. Why We Must Act and Act Now. The year 2013 marked a major milestone in the fight for ending animal testing. The very final provisions in the EU’s ban on marketing of cosmetics that have been tested on animals were fully effected. Israel has also made seminal legislations ban the marketing of animal tested cosmetics while other places such as India are progressing. Firstly, animal testing is cruel as inflicts unbearable pain and in some instances the substances poison hence killing the innocent animals. The practice violates animal rights and is just as immoral as actually causing the death of animals. Secondly and more importantly here are more innovative interactive methods of testing drug safety & efficacy such use of computer programs and volunteer humans. We must therefore act and end animal testing now to ensure animals lead quality lives just as was the intention of God. The platform for regulatory control has been availed and therefore government must act now and pass laws to govern animal welfare in scientific experiments. As for the future of the practice, there is a likelihood of decreasing. This because alternatives techniques are continuously being made available while at the same time states are passing regulations to moderate it as well as hold those conducting animal testing accountable. A major challenge to the war will be in form of outsourcing to those countries that have poor regulations on animal testing. Pressure must therefore continue so as to have government pass regulations holding companies and institutions accountable. Activists for the rights of animals are not likely to drop their quest of seeing an end to animal testing and development of alternative methods hence pressure will continue to mount on governments to end the practice. Ideally animal testing should be substituted with other human techniques of drug testing. However, the scientific world continues to support the practice and thus the debate will likely persist for some many years (Murnaghan, 2015). Solutions to Animal Testing The society needs to address the issue of animal testing once and for all. There can responsibilities for the individuals, companies, governments and international organizations. The solution squarely lies in a three R principle approach that has been developed for scientists to minimize the effects of scientific research on animals i.e. Reduction, Refinement and Replacement. Under reduction the objective is lessening the number of animal subjects used in experiments. This calls for improvement in terms of experimental methods, encouragement of alternatives to animal testing, improvement of data analysis and increased information sharing. Another principle is refining experiments as well as the manner in which animals are treated in the experiment so that suffering is kept at the bare minimum. Scientists should thus use techniques that are less invasive and provide better welfare to the animals in terms of both medical and living conditions. The final R refers to the replacement of animals with other experimental techniques in research. Scientists are encouraged to replace whole animals with cell cultures, use computer models instead of animals and use human volunteer to conduct their studies. Another alternative to animals in scientific studies is to research on human populations through epidemiological studies. In order for this to be realized every person is supposed to participate by advocating for the welfare of animals. Scientists on their part are supposed to as much as possible use alternatives to animals in their experiments and where necessary apply the best welfare standards when using animals. Governments must pass laws to regulate animal testing in terms the number of animals being used, as well as documenting the numbers, experimental procedures justification for the same. Governments should hold scientists to account when animals are used where alternative techniques are available as well as when animals are made to suffer unnecessarily. Regional organizations such the EU also have a role to develop principles the guide nations in legislating on animal testing and developed nations should lead by developing practices that can be emulated by the developing nations. Animal testing is therefore an issue that affects all nations of the world. Even nations that are still developing Bahrain and others have animal testing going on. In Bahrain for instance the medical research is still in its infancy stages and thus animal testing is on a small scale. Majority of the animal dissections occur in schools. However, the country now has two universities and 3 major hospitals. These coupled to the many schools and hospitals mean there exists a likelihood for animal testing to go up and therefore proper planning is necessary (Rajab, 1989). Suggestions include regulating the practice, ensuring there is no pain inflicted on animals in scientific experiments and more importantly reducing the animal numbers. It is therefore imperative that more human techniques of research are developed as well as standards for laboratory testing on animals. Trivial use of animals in tests should be prevented by the law so that animal tests are only accepted where it is extremely necessary. Works Cited. 1. BBC. “Animal Experimentation; A Difficult Issue.” BBC, 2014. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/animals/using/experiments_1.shtml 2. Ian Murnaghan. “Background and History of Animal Testing.” About Animal Testing2005. Available at: http://www.aboutanimaltesting.co.uk/background- history-animal-testing.html 3. Illman, J. “Animal Research in Medicine: 100 years of Politics, Protests and Progress. The Story of the Research Defence Society.” London: Research Defence Society 2008. 4. Institute of Laboratory Animal Research, Division on Earth and Life Studies. (2011). Animal Research in a Global Environment: Meeting the Challenges; Proceedings of the November 2008 International Workshop. National Academies Press. 5. Katy Taylor, Nicky Gordon, Gill Langley and Wendy Higgins. “Estimates of Worldwide Laboratory Animal Use in 2005.” ATL 2008: 36, 327-342. 6. Khalil E. Rajab. “Animal Experimentation.” Bahrain Medical Bulleting, 1989; Vol. 11, No. 3. 7. Research Defence Society & Coalition for Medical Progress. “Medical Advances and Animal Research: The Contribution of Animal Science to the Medical Revolution: Some Case Histories.” London: RDS, 2007. Available at:  http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/media- library/download/document/64/ Read More