Describe Why Animal Research And Testing Ought To Stop

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Animal research and testing ought to stop
While there are benefits to humans from animal research, the researchers claim that they try to minimize pain and discomfort, but fail to show how they achieve this. There have been benefits when using animal models, like the discovery of drugs, but there is increased recognition that there is a need for new ways that does not involve harming animals. There are ethical regulations of using animals in research, and more non animal testing methods are being developed. The main principles on animal testing and reproach focus on reduction, replacement and refinement. This means that researchers ought to reduce the number of animals they use and get similar information, replace the animals whenever possible, and lastly refine their methods so they reduce pain and discomfort while improving the animals living conditions. Animals should not be used in research as there are less cruel, cheaper and non animal testing alternatives.
Even with the passage of the 1970 Animal Welfare Act (AWA) that required protection of warm-blooded animals in experiment, there were still cruel and unnecessary tests being conducted. While there is recognition that protecting animals during research is necessary, there is no guarantee that the scientists follow through with all the guidelines. To address the issue it would be necessary to scale down using animals for research over time.
The act was unnecessary as there were reports that animals were enduring terrible conditions, and nowadays research still inflicts pain and discomfort on animals being tested. In the 1970’s and 80’s the Draize tests were still conducted on rabbits, where irritants were tested on a patch of skin, and there was checking for blistering, redness and irritation (Yount 50). In the LD50 (lethal dose for 50 percent) test were used on live animals to determine the level of acute toxicity, where varying doses of different test substance were given (Yount 50). Sometimes, researchers can give lethal doses when testing drugs and even report the side effects, and such results are not publicized. There are also other alternatives to animal research that are cheaper that should be utilized.
The public partly funds the expensive animal research, and yet the researchers do not necessarily show how they use such funds for the proper good of humanity (Glasziou 270). Taxpayer funded animal testing has been one of the contentious issues in animal research as there are concerns about the concerns cost implications and the inhumane treatment of animals. For instance, the wealthy researchers utilize public funds when suing animals and there is less oversight on their work, which increases the risk of resource wastage. Such funds can be used in other places and programs like funding Medicare. Additionally, the government is not obliged to disclose how much mone...