Animal Experimentation

Animal Experimentation is when scientific researchers use animals in biomedical and veterinary research aimed at understanding diseases, developing new medicines, testing the safety of chemicals, improving the health of other animals and improving human health. It has been part of biomedical and behavioural research for several centuries (millennia); experiments with animals were conducted in Greece over two thousand years ago.

Animal tests are carried out to see if a potential product produces any serious side-effects such as liver or kidney damage, dangerously raising blood pressure or damaging the foetus or nervous system. Scientists and the law need this information before proceeding to test the medicine on human volunteers.

Every day, thousands of people are saved from painful diseases and death by powerful medical drugs and treatments. This incredible gift of medicine would not be possible without animal testing. Despite these overwhelming benefits, however, some people are calling for animal testing to be banned because of alleged cruelty. This essay will examine arguments for and against animal testing.

I gathered the following quote from a forum that I found on the internet which required comments between the comparison of animals and humans: "Nobody likes to see undue cruelty to anything, especially in the field of cosmetics or similar egotistical selfish areas. But you show me the animal I have to kill to save my child's life and I'll tear it apart with my bare hands if I have to - no question of doubt in my mind." (Internet forum, 2008) This shows that the appreciation of human life is much higher than the appreciation of animal life. the world value their lives much higher than animal life, this is a valid explanation to test on animals in order to save human life.

From a religious point of view we are going to look at a number of philosopher and what the bible has to say about the moral and belief of animal experimentations and the value of an animals life in the world

Discussing animal testing from a religious view creates a whole new argument. Speciesism is a hierarchy placing humans above animals and is practiced by Jews and Christians who base their superiority on God's words in Genesis. The word dominion is used in the Bible and Torah which leads Christians and Jews to believe that man alone is created in God's image, and man alone is given dominion over all the animals on ...