DuVal High School
Don’t test that chick!
Xzavier Hines
English 12
4B
The veterinary field is very important because animals need immediate care like people. They go through the many of the same things as humans. Veterinarians are a big part of the world today because people care about their pets more. People today, care for their pets as if they were humans. Animals are subject to illnesses and accidents. Veterinarians care for sick and injured animals every day and save most of their lives. To be a veterinarian is a gift and it's exciting to learn new things. There are people that foreshadow veterinarians such as interns, nurses, and fourth-year vet students. To have people looking up to you to save animals lives is amazing and you're a teacher. Every day in the Veterinarians field can make can an impact. “We pour a lot of heart and energy into the animals, and it's great to see them fully recover” says Dr. Campbell. The feeling of saving one's life is breathtaking. Veterinarians get that kind of rush everyday.
On the road of becoming a veterinarian is challenging. In high school, he or she would have to take most all sciences to prepare for college and get good grades in those courses. Also, many clinical hours at an animal hospital would be a good recommendation for college but it takes a lot of time. Most veterinarians can go to college for 4-8 years depending if he/or/she majors in something else to help become a better doctor. The challenge is time. A person that wants to become a veterinarian would have to prepare themselves for a long journey to become what they desire.
Everyday veterinarians save lives but they cannot save them all. Animals are being tested on each and every day and some die because of it. People that agree animal testing is harmful and inhumane are mostly animal lovers and animal doctors. Their arguments are animals testing is too expensive, kills, misleads researchers, and is cruel. The solution to their problem is to ban animal testing. People that agree animals testing is good because they help find cures and treatments. They believe animals are similar to humans and are good research subjects. Many people think that animal testing shouldn't be banned. My research will show how animal testing is beneficial and affects the lives of animals.
A main idea that strengthens my view of supporting testing on animals is “there is no adequate alternative to testing on a living, whole-body system.” Scientists believe that animals are the closest thing possible to a human body. Animals have the same major organs like a human. An animal's has a heart, lungs, and brain. They also have the same organ systems. We both have a respiratory system, nervous system, and cardiovascular system. The similarity between us means that the veterinary medicine used to treat animals are very similar to the medicine used to treat humans.
Animal testing has developed vaccines and cures for human illnesses. Another example from the sources that reinforces my point of view is “Animal experimentation is not only beneficial to humans but animals as well.” “The majority of the medical breakthroughs that have happened in the last 100 years were direct results from animal research and experimentation.” Many animals themselves have an advantage from the certain risk of animal testing. Stating that, If antibodies were not tried on animals millions of animals would have died. These animals could die from things like , feline leukemia, distemper infectious hepatitis virus,rabies. Animal testing has been a big factor in saving endangered species and saving human lives. Animal research has helped the world in many ways.
An essential example that supports my view from animal testing is it “improves human health. Animal testing has saved many human lives and some animals also. Animal testing has played a major role in medical growth in the last century. The progression includes things like vaccinations, organ transplants, blood transfusions, and chemotherapy. The experimenters that were tested on animals treats and cures serious diseases today. Also, it helps pain. Animals this have short life spans are chosen to be experimented on because of that.
Another example from the sources that reinforces my point of view is “Animal researchers treat animals humanely, both for the animals' sake and to ensure reliable test results.” Animals that are tested on are treated with care. They also ensure accurate data by veterinarians, specialists, and animal health technicians. Animals are also protected by the AWA (Animal Welfare Act) which insures that “Research laboratories and those who supply these animals for research must follow AWA regulations to provide them with appropriate food, housing, and veterinary care”. Also animals are protected by the PHS (Public Health Service) which insures that “Institutions that conduct research with vertebrate animals must follow the PHS Policy. To conduct/prohibit this type of animal testing you must follow certain guidelines. These things ensure the animals safety and leaves them stress free”. According to Nature Genetics “stressed or crowded animals produce unreliable research would be a waste of a test session if not taken care of correctly.”
As you read in the previous sections, there are many pros and there also are cons. Many people argue that “animal testing is cruel and inhumane.” Other think that animal testing is very expensive. While people in the previous section thinks animals make great test subjects because they have many of the same things a human has other people think they make poor test subjects. And people against animal testing think the protocols are painful and threatening to animals.
One main idea that challenges my point of view would be that people think “animal testing is cruel and inhumane”. There have been cases where animals are locked up in cages inside laboratories. The animals suffer from loneliness, pain, and frustration. Animals wait inside the cages until the next procedure they will be performed on. And some animals just wait and are observed from their previous experimentation. According to PETA,”more than 100 million animals suffer and die in the U.S every year in cruel chemical, drug, and cosmetics tests...etc.” To me if this was true it would be cruel.
Another main idea that challenges my view on animal testing is people think “It is very expensive.” Therefore they are saying we spend a lot of money on animals being tested. Sometimes animals take weeks to years for an experiment to be over it. More than 12 billion and in between 14.5 million in taxpayer money is wasted annually on animal testing. According to NIH documents, “about 47 percent of research grants have an animal research based component.” And many believe that the money used for animal testing can be used for something better.
An essential example from my sources that challenges my view on testing is “animals make poor test subjects”. Some animals have short-life spans unlike humans so animals can die quicker. Animals are in a way weaker test subjects than humans are. People have said that animals show the same emotions as a human but in a different way because they can't talk. Some animals may have stressful emotions that may cause the experiment that they are being tested on to be wrong. For example, if a human is in a hospital and they begin to stress out their high blood pressure can go up and mess up the nurse’s test.
Another essential example from my sources that challenge my view is “protocols in animal testing are often painful to the test subjects”. There have been cases where people think the protocols in laboratories hurt the animals. People believe that they are keeping animals prisoners and testing them on irrelevant things. Keeping animals in captivity is unnatural for the animal. To a person Jeremy he thinks “what can be done to animals behind closed doors has no limit”. Testing on an animal can go from infecting them with diseases to causing brain damage.
There are some viewpoints that he or she would agree with about animal testing. They agree that animal testing can be cruel and inhumane because animals die due to it. Also, animal testing is expensive and can be used for better things. We have many problems that can be paid for using the animal testing money. We already have a lot of vaccines and cures due to animal testing.
The viewpoints that most people disagree with is animal testers/researchers treats animal humanely. Any animal that is being experimented on is not being treated humanely. A human will not be experimented on if they didn't choose to. Animals have no voice to speak up for themselves so it's not humane. People disagree with animals also benefit from animal testing be issue they don't all have the same issues a human has.
My hypothesis and thesis grew because I never realized how much cons there are with animal testing. I question why so much money is spent on animal testing. I also question does anyone check on how animals are being treated, how they live, and how much they die in laboratories. If I was in charge the more animals that die in that category the money would be shortened. If animals were treated better in laboratories then they would have never been doubted period. If I was to make my thesis again on animal testing I would say animal testing has many pros and cons. Many animals die from animal testing but many humans are saved. There is too much money being spent on animals today and could be used for much better things. The theme would be that animal testing can be beneficial and very harmful in many ways so it makes it hard to choose whether to ban or keep animal testing.
Citations
Unknown Author. "Animal Testing - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. Web. 22 Mar. 2016. <
Murnaghan, Ian. "Using Animals for Testing: Pros Versus Cons." Using Animals for Testing: Pros Versus Cons. Web. 22 Mar. 2016. <
Unknown Author. "16 Integral Pros and Cons of Animal Experimentation." ConnectUS. 2015. Web. 22 Mar. 2016. <
Jackson, Donna M. ER Vets: Life in an Animal Emergency Room. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005. Print.
"English 12 Senior Project - Xzavier Hines." YouTube. Web. 22 Mar. 2016. <
Author Unknown. "Who Makes Sure Research Animals Are Treated Well?" Who Makes Sure Research Animals Are Treated Well? Web. 22 Mar. 2016. <