Wierdman's Tourney- Animal Testing

1. Animal testing is immoral and causes much suffering on the animal’s part. Animals, when subjected to testing, are dissected, gassed, burned, blinded, forced in cages, and executed. Approximately 100 million animals, including dogs, cats, rabbits, mice, birds, rats, chimpanzees, monkeys, and a plethora of other living organisms are killed every year [2]. These inexcusable acts are said to be for the “greater good”, but what is the “greater good”? We use animal testing for products such as toothpaste. Is my toothpaste part of the “greater good”? Perhaps my dish soap is part of it. Either way, I am sickened to know that 200,000 animals or so have been killed so I can brush my teeth in safety [3]. It is even more sickening to realize that many of these deaths were unneeded, since it would have been possible for companies such as REACH to use other available alternatives to animal testing. (These alternatives will be expanded upon in future arguments. ) However, scientists crossed the line with animal testing when they began testing weapons on animals [4]. It is estimated that in 2007 over 18,000 animals were used in weapons research. Animals subjected to this form of testing are poisoned by chemical warfare agents, subjected to blast injuries, and deliberately wounded and killed by bacterial toxins. This is undeniably inhumane and cruel, and it should be stopped immediately. 2. Animal testing is not reliable. While certain animals may have similar attributes to the human body, they still react differently to vaccines, drugs, medications, and experiments. Thus, the results of animal testing can be unpredictable and have, in some cases, endangered human lives. A) Clioquinol, a drug produced to provide safe relief from diarrhea, had a severe negative impact upon many humans. Despite being “safety tested” in animals, this drug caused approximately 30,000 cases of blindness and/or paralysis in Japan alone and thousands of deaths worldwide. B) Opren was a drug for arthritis; however, it was withdrawn in 1982 after 62 deaths and 3,500 serious side affects including damage to the eyes, skin, liver, and kidneys. This too was supposedly, “safety tested” in animals. C) Thalidomide is one of the most famous examples of the dangers of animal testing. Its original purpose was to be a sedative for pregnant women. Despite the manufacturer’s claims that it was completely safe for the unborn child, this sedative caused tens of thousands of deaths worldwide. Moreover, it caused permanent nerve damage in adults not detected during animal testing. Additional cases of the dangers of animal testing include Vioxx, Isoprenaline, and Rezulin. Furthermore, FDA itself estimated in 2006 that 92% of drugs that pass animal testing fail in human clinical trials [2]. It is evident that animal testing is unreliable and causes millions of deaths, both in animals and humans. 3. There are alternatives to animal testing [5]. (Nearly everything in this argument can be found within the given link, [5]. ) Although animal testing is crude and ineffective, there are many other ways to get the same, if not better, results without killing so many animals. Not to mention these alternatives are cheaper. The following is a quote from the article: “Comparative studies of human populations allow doctors and scientists to discover the root causes of human diseases and disorders so that preventive action can be taken. Epidemiological studies led to the discoveries of the relationship between smoking and cancer and to the identification of heart disease risk factors. (2) Conversely, tobacco company executives relied on misleading animal-based studies to deny the link between smoking and cancer as recently as 1994. (3)” From this paragraph, we can already tell that epidemiological studies have benefited us by showing the relations between smoking and cancer. Animal testing, on the other hand, did no such thing, and actually denied that there was a link between smoking and cancer. Furthermore, the tobacco company executives would have to kill many animals to reach this false conclusion, whereas the epidemiological studies did not have to kill any animals, and it reached the correct conclusion. Moreover, population studies have revealed ways to prevent AIDS and other infectious diseases, whereas animal studies have barely made a dent in this ongoing problem. In fact, approximately 80 HIV/AIDS vaccines that were passed in animal testing were denied in human clinical trials, according to NIH. Then we have one of the best alternatives to animal testing. Human volunteers can donate their bodies and/or organs to medical research or other forms of testing. Alternatively, human volunteers can donate tissue or even cells to be subjected to testing. While the former may be rare, the latter is likely to happen very frequently, since it requires little to no loss on the donator’s part. In fact, it is already happening, and it is through these studies that we have been able to develop a 3-D model of breast cancer so investigators can test potential treatments. Rather than studying cancer in rodents, this model effectively allows the study of cancer as it develops throughout the human body. I believe this should be a sufficient amount of examples for now, and I will include additional examples and/or arguments if necessary in future rounds. Conclusion- Consider the benefits of animal testing thus far. We have toothpaste, dish soap, and other household items. Now consider the harms of animal testing thus far. We have Clioquinol, Opren, Thalidomide, Vioxx, Isoprenaline, and Rezulin, all of which caused many painful side affects and death to humans. In addition to this, we have approximately 100 million animal deaths as a result of animal testing from medical research. Furthermore, it is more expensive compared to non-animal tests, and is less efficient. From these results, we can conclude that animal testing is expensive, unreliable, deadly, and inhumane; therefore, humans should no longer utilize this form of testing. With that said, I hand over the next round to my opponent and wish him luck. [2] . http://news.change.org... [3] . http://www.peta.org... [4] . http://www.animalaid.org.uk... [5] . http://www.peta.org...