Should Animal Testing Be Halted?

Thousands of animals every year are euthanized due to animal testing. Because of this horrendous care that animals are enduring, people debate whether animal testing should be carried out at all. Some people though believe that animal testing is beneficial in various ways. Those people that see animal testing as beneficial think that without animals, medical developments and the military would not be where they are today. However, both sides of the animal testing argument, in favor of animal testing and against animal testing, prove points that people should see. Nevertheless, despite the belief that animal testing is beneficial, testing animals is actually morally wrong and should not be carried out.

People voice their opinions that testing on animals is beneficial to humans. For example, scientific and medical research both depends on understanding how the whole body works. “ It is unethical and illegal to expose human patients to new medicines without being confident that they are likely to benefit and not be seriously harmed, so the only alternative is to use the most suitable animal to study a particular disease or function” (Bateson). Scientists need to know how the human body works for the benefit of humankind; therefore, using animals is the only way to study a certain disease or function for the benefit of a person’s safety. Bateson also states that it is “unethical and illegal” to allow humans to be tested on for new drugs because they could be seriously harmed. Many people believe that because animal testing has led to saved lives and reduces human suffering, animal testing is justified ( About Animal Testing). If more people are saved because of animal testing, then animal testing should be continued; thus, the ends of animal testing justify the means. Therefore, animal testing is beneficial to humans because of the numerous medical breakthroughs which have had a positive impact on the lives of many people.

During 2002 the total number of animals...