Writing Feedback / [IELTS] Writing Task 2 On the justification of animal testing [3]

the animal experiments problem

Nowadays animal experiments are widely used to develop new medicines and to test the safety of other products. Some people argue that these experiments should be banned because it is morally wrong to cause animals to suffer, while others are in favour of them because of their benefits to humanity. Discuss both view and give your opinion.

One of the most heated debates of the last few decades has been the extent to which humans should allow animal experiments or avoid it due to ethical reason. It is usually argued that testing on animals is an inhumane crime, while the others believe that this kind of experiment can contribute to the development of humankind. This essay agrees that animal testing should be eliminated because it causes more damages than being useful for humane society.

Those who support animal test claim that because scientists cannot perfom experiment on a human being, using non-human animals in laboratories are the only method that can give the most accurate result to develop medical treatments or check the safety of other products such as cosmetics or detergent. According to USA National Academy of Science, the interactions between a living organism and the environment or the chemicals are so complicated that it cannot be simulated by even the most sophisticated computer model on earth. Furthermore, since most of the animals which are used in the laboratories such as rats, mices, fishes or sheeps lack intelligence, many people believe that their lives are worth less than the life of a human and thus it is permissible to harm them to ensure the future of mankind, especially in the case of finding a cure to treat deadly diseases such as Ebola or HIV.

Meanwhile, opponents of animal experimentation - sometimes called animal rights activists - argue that since animals used in experiments are usually exposed to cruel procedures which cause extreme pain and suffering such as force feeding, forced injection or food and water deprivation, this kind of experimental research is considered to be immoral. Newest research has proved that animals have the same capacity as humans to feel pain and experience distress when being harmed and killed, therefore people do not have right to cause suffering and death to other species. Moreover, animal tests are really expensive and do not give reliable results in some occasions. For example, some medical reports in 1950s showed that sleeping pills had caused serious side-effect on pregnant women and their babies, despite having tested on animals prior to its commercial release and costed the government more than $10 billion. It must be said that recent technological breakthroughs have introduced many alternative testing method that can replace animals in laboratories such as artificial human skin or virtual cells which are cheaper and potentially more efficient than animal experimentation. For this reason, I believe that humankind should stop this animal cruelty and figure out better method to test products or find life-saving treatments.

In conclusion, while there are convincing arguments on both sides of the debate, it cannot be denied that even though animal experiments still give some benefits to humane society, its unethical approach and unstable prediction of effect on humans outweigh its plausible advantages. Therefore,

animal testing should be replaced by better practices in the future.