Animal Testing does more harm than good

In ROUND 2 I mentioned that I share my opponent's concern for animal rights and good treatment while in the care of human owners and care-takers, including those that work in animal research laboratories. I also explained in an earlier ROUND that there are federal laws inside the US that protect animals (including research animals) from gratuitous harm and unnecessary absuse. I will cover both of these topics, including new and developing research alternatives to animal testing, in the following ROUND. Animals should not be unnecessarily harmed to advance medical research and understanding in humans, and wherever we can bring relief to animals in the process of animal testing, we have a humanitarian and ethical obligation to do so, especially since we're a civilization that adheres to the pivotal concept of rights, including the promotion of general tranquility and happiness. How we can avoid extending that concept to the animals we're in contact with regularly appears both intellectually dishonest and stubborn to me. Plus, I think it takes away from the philosophical grounding for human rights and standards of humans behavior. But more on that in the following ROUND.I this ROUND, I will continue to cover a benefit of animal research and then go over what kinds of animals are most regularly used in biomedical research animal testing. As we shall see, research on familiar pets and nonhuman primates makes up a very, very tiny amount of all testing performed on animals [1][2]. This ROUND will be short due to personal time constraints.Some Animal Research also Benefits Animals--revisted issueSome animal research also benefits animals. I covered this concisely in ROUND 2. Now I'm going to go over more specific examples.In 1967, the very first pacemaker was implanted inside a dog [1]. This medical research and device was then used to treat human patients with abnormal heart rythyms, which saved tens of thousands of lives as a result. Today, hundreds of canines each year recieve pacemakers to keep their hearts beating normally and to prevent early death [1].Some of the first evidence that AIDS in humans was caused by a virus came from research on a type of leukemia that affects cats. An effective feline leukemia vaccine was developed in 1985 because of animal testing; it may offer clues to a cure for AIDS in humans [1].Every year, approximately 350 dogs receive artificial hips because of a prevalent diagnosed disease that damages and weakens their joints [1].Animal research has led to a common medical procedure performed on cats, dogs, and horses that alleviates cataracts, replaces the lens in their eyes and restores sight [1].The CAT scan was developed with the use of pigs. Today, this device is used by veterinarians to view animal organs without surgery [1].Animal research led to the successful development of the hearing aid. Veterinarians commonly treat deafness in aging animals now with the use of animal hearing aids [1].One out of 10 young horses is born prematurely. Today, special horse neonatal centers offer these young equines lifesaving drugs and respirators until they can get on their own four feet and function normally [1].The benefits of animal research to animals is quite extensive. Today, animals receive laser surgery, asthma and allergy treatments, chemotheraphy, bone grafts, skin grafts, epilepsy medicine, dental care, antibiotics, anesthesia, blood transfusions, and dozens of other types of treatments [1]. Even more, many new treatments used on animals are cutting edge and may in the future help human patients afflicted by related medical issues and diseases [1].None of these treatments and medical advacements would be possible without research on animals.The Vast Majority of Animal Researh is Conducted on Rats and MiceEven though biomedical research is conducted on many different types of animals in preclinical trials, the vast majortiy of it--approximately 95% of it inside the United States--is conducted on rats and mice [2][3]. There's actually several reasons as to why they're the animal of choice inside the research lab. Mice and rats are small, easy to house and maintain; mice and rats are inexpensive and can be purchased in large numbers; mice and rats reproduce quickly; they can be conveniently bred to be genetically identical, which is important in medical trials [3]. The most important reason of all however is that they closely resemble humans genetically, biologically, and even behaivorally; as a result, mice and rats have been used to development drugs and treatments for all sorts of human disorders and diseases over the course of the last century, which makes them a dependable research specimen [3]. They are physiologically and genetically well understood [3]. "Rats and mice are mammals that share many processes with humans and are appropriate for use to answer many research questions," says Jenny Haliski, of the US National Institutes of Health Office of Laboratory Welfare [3].Most of the remaining research is performed on farm animals, rabbits, hamsters, guinea, fish and insects [2]. Less than one percent of the remaining animal research is on cats, dogs, and non-human primates combined.Rats and mice are brilliant animals, but they're nowhere near as intelligent as humans, according to the encephalization measurements that biologists use to estimate animal intelligence or cognition [4]. Not only are rats and mice far less intelligent than humans, according to encephalization measurements (a scientifically-credible way of determing intelligence in animals), but they're also less intelligent than dogs and cats, and about as intelligent as rabbits [4], which makes them better specimens to use from an ethical point-of-view. Rats and mice also have short life spans (2 to 3 years on average), which makes them better candidates to use than longer-lived cats, dogs, and nonhuman primates [5].[1] http://www.swaebr.org...[2] https://www.amprogress.org...[3] http://www.livescience.com...[4] https://en.wikipedia.org...[5] http://discovermagazine.com...