Controversial Issues: Animal Testing

Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, is the use of non-human animals in experiments. There was an estimate that the number of mice and rats used as experiments in the US alone in 2001 was 80 million. Nowadays there is an estimate worldwide of between 10 million to 100 million experiments yearly. Supporters of the use of animals in experiments, such as the British Royal Society, argue that virtually every medical achievement in the 20th century relied on the use of animals in some way. There are other organizations which argue that animals have the right not to be used for experimentation. They are using these experiments in many different areas such as toxicology testing, that is known as safety testing, cosmetics testing, drug testing, education, and military defense. There are many people who have their viewpoints. Some people don’t agree with such experiments. The British government has additionally required that the cost to animals in an experiment be weighed against the gain in knowledge. Some medical schools and agencies in China, Japan, and South Korea have built graveyards for killed animals. A wide range of viewpoints exist. As for my point of view, there are some reasons it has to be acceptable to do experiments with animals to avoid high risk to human beings. They are using some animal testing for AIDS or for eye problems. These are big experiments so for that reason they cannot harm a human being.