Animal Testing Persuasive Essay

Words: 810
Pages: 4

Animal Testing: The Cat’s Meow or The Flea of Society
More than one million animals die each year due to animal testing. That is more than 66,000 dogs, 23,000 cats, 57,000 primates, and 1,029,000 other animals like pigs, sheep, and even hamsters and rabbits (“Animal Testing Statistics” 1). Animal testing is the use of animals to determine toxicity and efficiency of experimental drugs or cosmetics before testing them on humans. Many popular companies, such as Aveeno, Band Aid Brand, Neosporin, Splenda, and Tylenol still test their products on animals (“List of Companies” 1). Animal testing should be outlawed because it is immoral, can be illegal, and is much more expensive than other effective alternatives. Animal testing is extremely immoral. Imagine a beloved household pet strapped to a table, being poked and prodded with needles to test unsafe experimental cosmetics or medications. Many people justify this by saying animals do not feel pain like humans, but they do. “…mammals all have similar nerve structures for feeling pain”(Wright and Hoagland 2). Humans and animals both feel pain. The whimper of an injured animal means the same thing as an “ouch” of a human. And animals, unlike humans,
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In vitro testing is when the biological molecules being experimented on are examined and tested in an artificial culture medium, such as a solution in a test tube or a Petri dish. In vitro testing has been proven to give a more detailed and more convenient analysis than animal testing. According to The Humane Society, animal testing can be more than double the cost of in vitro testing. For example, a 24-month cancer bioassay using rats can cost up to $700,000, while its in vitro alternative only costs $22,000 (“Costs of Animal” 1). That is a $678,000 difference. It is a huge waste of money. That $678,000 could have funded dozens, maybe even hundreds, of other