Animal experimentation: is it ethical?.
Since the ancient Greek and Roman days, animals have been used for experimentation for the benefits of humans such as education, biomedical research and consumer product testing. And for the past three decades, animal testing has become an intense public controversy. Today, the controversy has turned into a debate on the issue: Is animal testing for the benefits of humans ethical? Many people say that animal testing is acceptable such as Michael Allen Fox, Author of the case for animal experimentation. He defends his beliefs by saying "Rather it is that human welfare is a more vital concern than animal welfare and deserves more of our dedication because humans are more important than animals." (p.5). However many people would not agree with that statement, such as Lorenz Lutherer and Margaret Simon, authors of Targeted, the anatomy of animal attack. Lutherer and Simon advocate .
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their beliefs by saying " all sentient beings - that is any living organism that has a nervous system and can sense discomfort - has the right to not sense discomfort." (p.3). Both sides are very valid arguments and can be equally debated. .
Experimentation on animals can be dated as far back as the Romans. Scientists used to cut open live animals with out anesthesia to learn how the body works. They would observe the beating heart and the swallowing movements made by pigs drinking colored water. For centuries this practice continued as scientists continued to gain more knowledge about the biology of the animal. It helped them to learn new surgical procedures. "As this knowledge grew, new scientific disciplines were born. First, physiology and pharmacology, and much later bacteriology and immunology, evolved as animal experimentation became more widespread." (altweb.com). In the nineteenth century biomedical research became more popular, and widely used. As the biomedical research field grew so did the demand for animal use in experiments.
