Animal Experimentation why it is wrong

This is just an essay I wrote for school. I am just sharing what I found. I am extremely against animal experimentation

Many believe there are only benefits to animal experimentation, but what about 

the animals and what about when and experiment goes wrong either when testing on an 

animal or having clinical test runs on humans. Some experiments could be harmful 

towards animals but beneficial towards humans or harmful for humans but beneficial for 

animals, so in truth we never know the real outcome of an experiment or the product 

from the experiment. According to DoSomething.org 17-22 million animals are tested on 

each year in the United States, also according to hsi.org it is estimated 115 million animals worldwide are tested on each year. Are all of these experiments really  necessary to help the medical field answer some of it’s questions? What would happen to the advancements in our world if these experiments were outlawed?

  There are many different types of experiments used today on animals, each country has it’s own experiments and others are common among these countries. One of many is 

acute toxicity which is used to determine the danger of exposure to a chemical by mouth, 

skin, or inhalation.  It is difficult to conduct information on human responses to chemicals 

based on these animal test methods because different species of animals have wide 

variations in their responses to chemicals. Another is Skin Corrosivity and Irritation tests, 

Skin Corrosion tests assess the potential of a substance to cause irreversible damage to 

the skin. Skin Irritation tests determine the level of damage caused to skin such as itching, swelling, and inflammation. A third one is Dermal Penetration or Skin Absorption tests that 

analyze the movement of a chemical through the bloodstream. Another is Carcinogenicity 

which is a substance or mixture of substances that induce cancer or increases the 

incidences of cancer. These might just be a few test that are used even though many more 

are being used everyday. 

Some people do not know what kind of animals are used in experiments or which 

ones in particular. Just a few animals that are used in experiments are mice, rats, frogs, 

dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, monkeys, fish, and birds; these are just a small 

amount out of 100 million animals used. One reason why rodents are used in medical 

testing is that their genetic, biological and behavioral characteristics closely resemble 

those of humans, and many symptoms of human conditions can be replicated in mice and

rats. According to peta.org  nearly 22,000 cats are abused in U.S. labatories every year-

in addition to the tens and thousands who are killed and sold to schools for cruel and crude

classroom dissections. One experiment done on a cat named Robert, who had been 

bought from a local shelter, had a hole drilled into his skull and electrodes attached to his 

brain.One experiment dogs are used in is Toxicology Studies, in these studies large doses 

of a test substance(a pesticide or household product) are force-fed to dogs or injected into 

their bodies, slowly poisoning them. The dogs used in experiments endured worm 

infections, oozing sores, abscessed teeth, and blood-filled infections without receiving 

adequate veterinary examinations and treatment. Some experiments monkeys are used in 

are Pharmaceutical tests in these tests, thick gavage tubes are forced up primates’ nostrils 

or down the animals’ throats so that experimental drugs can be pumped into their 

stomachs. Another is a Vaccine test where they are given infectious diseases and then 

used as test subjects for experimental vaccines.

The main issue with animal experimentation is these experiments can be painful, 

damaging and deadly to the animals used. How animals are tested in labs, small animals

are kept in clear or white plastic boxes, while larger animals live in wire cages. During 

experiments some animals are given medicine so that the do not feel pain or distress, but

thousands are not. Most animals are used in only one experiment, most are euthanized or 

put to death after done being experimented on. Animal testing dates all the way back to 4th

and 3rd century B.C.E with Aristotle being one of the first beginning on the experiments on 

living animals.

The disadvantages of animal experimentation can range from failures to millions of 

deaths of animals. The mortality of it is animals have the right to live their own life and we 

are not allowed to meddle with them just because we can. The necessity of it is drugs 

tested on the animals will never actually seem to have benefited towards humans. 

Sometimes it is not important enough to sacrifice an animal for testing. Evidently animal 

experimentation has barely any usefulness for animals are not giving accurate and 

consistent results either from unnatural conditions(a lab and not their natural habitat), or 

animals in pain or distress. The reaction of the drug in the animal’s body is different from 

the human body since humans are quite different from animals, so the consequences of 

animal testing may not be applicable to humans. After the experimentation animals are 

‘crippled mentally and physically by the horrific testing procedures they had to go through.

One these experiments are over scientist either dispose of the body if it is not already or 

they kill it then get rid of the body, since they have no further use for them.

The advantages of animal experimentation can range from fact to opinion based on

data collected and successful results. Scientific research experiments are done on animals 

so that humans ultimately suffer less. Pain is also inflicted on animals so through these 

experiments in the hopes that fewer animals will suffer later. It can be an accurate way to 

learn the effects of substances in a living body. Using computer models cannot always 

predict unknown variables that can be discovered with animal testing. It also does not just 

benefit humans it also benefits animals they have improved healthcare and life span. 

Hopefully by the end of this research paper more people have heard about why 

animal testing is wrong and are moving toward getting something done to either lower the 

use of animals, convince others to fight back, or to go out and adopt a pet for themselves.

According to humansociety.org U.S. pet-ownership estimates are 83.3 million dogs and 

95.6 million cats are owned. This research paper had went over the advantages of 

experimentation, the disadvantages, issues, brief history, experiments, and types of 

animals used in these experiments.

Author's Note

I just want people to know what some things are done to animals. If you want more information just look up animal experimentation; but be warned it can be very gruesome.