Testing Drugs on Animals: Sacrifice or Necessity?

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Argumentative essay
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Testing drugs on animals is the sacrifice we have to make
Since centuries it is evident that the scientist makes use of specific animals to test new
drugs (Anadón, 70). From the research, human being makes use of animals such as dogs, rats,
monkeys, and rabbits to check whether the new drugs are valid or not. The regulatory of the
medical department needs the researchers to test the medicines first. However, the act is a
tremendous sacrifice because it may not render effectivity of the drug. From the medical records,
over twenty thousand animals are in the laboratories to help in confirming the effectivity of the
drugs (Harloff-Helleberg, Stine, Line Hagner Nielsen, and Hanne Mørck Nielsen, 60). In this
argumentative essay, it is going to give both effects of using animals to test the drugs.
Pro and cons of testing drugs on animals
The decision of the medical department to make use of animals in testing the
effectiveness of the drugs have various positive effects on human beings. The first main
advantage is that the action assists in saving the lives of many individuals who would have died
from ineffective drugs. Many medicines that the scientists come up with are not effective at first.
They carry out various tests before they come up with a final drug (Beck, 325).
Consequently, the process of testing may result in loss of life. Human life is so precious
that losing it in such activities can be termed as a crime. However, when the doctors test the
drugs on animals and find some complications, they can try and correct the situation to make the
drug effective. The second issue is that some medicines when need to be tested on human tissue,
the computer need to study the issue for some time. However, there is no living creature apart
from animals that doctors can use to get the tissues that they need for testing (Schweitzer, 46).
The human body is a complex system that when one lacks a muscle, it can lead to other serious

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complications. Thirdly, animals are more similar to human beings that proves them appropriate
to test drugs that human beings are going to consume. For instance, ninety-nine percent of
chimpanzee’s DNA is identical to that of the human body. There is also another positive effect in
that; the animals benefit from the testing they undergo. Many animals suffer from strange
diseases such as rabies and feline. The trial provides immunity to the animal’s body and protects
them from such unknown diseases
Even animals make the best creatures to test the effectiveness of the drugs; the action
remains sacrificial. For example, from human society, the act is inhumane and cruel. The
researchers subject these animals to painful conditions such as forced bleeding and starvation.
Such actions lead to the death of the animals. They are not humane because no person can
promote the end of the organisms. Secondly, the fact that drugs pass the animal tests may not
make it useful. Some medications cause defects despite doctors testing them on animals before
taking it to the human body. For example, in the 1950s, the researchers came up with thalimode,
a sleeping pill for human beings (Paine, 432). However, over ten thousand mothers gave birth to
children with deformities despite the researchers testing the drugs on the animals. The incident
made human nature anxious about the drugs. Many feared that they are going to die because of
the drugs.
On the other hand, animals suffer same as human beings, but they are neither able to talk
or reason. The meaning of the above situation is that the animals may be suffering from a given
disease from the drugs, but they do not speak or reason. It is also evident that animals such as
rats, rabbits, and dogs that the scientists make use while testing human drugs lacks toxicity
(Zucker, 110). When toxicity is absent in the organism, the medicine that doctors are testing
cannot be useful when human beings are making use of it.