Animals also have emotions and feel equal pain as humans. We should stop all pharmaceutical companies from doing trials on innocent animals. Give your opinion in not less than 250 words.

All drugs need to be tested for their accurate effects and toxicity, before entering the consumer markets. Majority of these tests include animal testing.

Animal rights activists call it an unethical practice, as these trials subject animals to severe pain and suffering. They say that the researchers infect poor animals with the disease or a particular medical condition and then give them un-administered quantities of drugs.

Animals have been serving and benefiting mankind since the earliest recorded times. There is evidence of animal testing for medical research even in the Greek texts. The nineteenth and twentieth century saw great advancements in the fields of medicine and biochemistry. All these researches employed extensive animal testing.  The first zoos were created by medical researchers to breed and test animals in captivity.  Life saving drugs, vaccines, and antibiotics were created for example; penicillin was discovered and given to fight against diabetes. Fatal viral infections such as anthrax were countered while small pox was completely eradicated in the twentieth century through the vaccination. In 1996 the first successful animal cloning marked the beginning of a new era in the field of genetics and bio-chemistry. Medication for reducing the effects of cell degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s is now available.

Advocates of animal rights believe that animal testing is no more required due to the availability of other advanced testing techniques. They also question the reliability of these tests. They speculate that the pain inflicted upon the animals changes its physiology thus altering the results. Some also say that the effects in animals are not applicable for humans.  Contrary to what they may say, specific scientific researches cannot rely completely on artificial testing methods and live animals need to be used.  Otherwise, if not properly tested for toxicity, the drugs can cause irreparable damage to mankind.  Many Infantile deaths, birth defects and aborted pregnancies have been reported in such cases in the past.

In respect of saving both human and animal lives, if available, animals should be replaced by reliable alternate testing methods. This would in turn reduce and limit their use to only necessary scientific research.  Refined methods should be used to alleviate the unnecessary pain in animals. Animal testing cannot be completely banned but pharmaceutical companies should be licensed for specific research. Also, such trials should be properly administered.