Should there be a limit to the involvement of animals in medical research for the benefit of humans

Should there be a limit to the involvement of animals in medical research for the benefit of humans

Animals play a vital role in medical research. Do you think that there should be a limit to the involvement of animals in medical research for the benefit of humans?

I completely agree that animals play a vital role in medical research. One cannot deny that animal research has been the basis for all the big developments in medical science like the development of new vaccines, new cancer therapies, artificial limbs and organs, new surgical techniques, and the development of hundreds of useful products and materials. These vaccines and medicines are responsible for saving the lives of lot of people including small children.

Hence, it is true that research on animals is very important and halting testing of drugs on animals or animal experimentation will put an end to the scientific progress and innovations in the field of medicine which will eventually have harmful consequences on the society. Hence, logically it would not be correct to halt animal testing all together.

But one cannot deny the fact that experimentation on animals is quite painful and causes lot of animal suffering. We know that animals can’t reason, they can’t talk to us but they can very well suffer just like us. Pain is an intrinsic evil whether it is experienced by a child, an adult, or an animal.

Also, it is a known fact that some animal experimentation is performed out of mere curiosity by the scientists and has little or no scientific worth. Animals are starved, shocked, burned, and poisoned to satisfy the greed of the scientists to discover something new from animal suffering which will yield some benefit to the human race.

For example, one of the most controversial animal experimentation was the one in the legs of a baby mice was chopped off so that experimenters could observe whether he would learn to walk with his stumps. Now, acts like these which lack scientific objective should be immediately banned and people found practicing these should be punished. Scientists should not be allowed to carry their experiments on animals merely out of habit or ease.

Hence, it is true that a limit should be imposed on animal testing and it should be allowed only in those cases where no other alternative other than the animal is available for research and in cases which have a great scientific worth. However, it should not be allowed in cases where scientists would want to do a hit and trial on them or may use them merely out of curiosity or ease of experimentation. This will cause a balance by reducing unnecessary animal suffering and at the same time not hampering with the developments in the medical field.