Kristen Sawyer

Block 7 Geist
2/19/16

Is Animal Testing Morally Wrong or Right?

The practice of using animals for testing has been a controversial issue over the past
thirty years. Animal testing is a morally debated practice. Approximately two to four million
animals have been used in safety tests. I believe that animal testing is unethical unless it is used
for good reasons, such as finding cures for diseases. Safety tests are conducted with a wide range
of chemicals and products, including drugs, vaccines, cosmetics, household cleaners, and
packing materials. This raises issues such as the ethics and humaneness of deliberately poisoning
animals, thus harming them, for the sake of marketing a new cosmetic or household product.
The Humane Society of the United States promotes research method that can potentially
replace, reduce, or refine animal use so that animals experience less suffering. An opinion poll
was taken by the HSUS on September 23, 2001 on pain and distress in research. The findings
were that 62% of people would approve of testing if little or no pain was experienced by the
animals, while 75% disapprove when severe pain is experienced.
There is a moral blind spot in the treatment of animals that enable us to justify the cruelties
for the perceived benefits of humans. Animals are living things. In fact, animals sense of smell,
sight, and sound is much more acute than our own. Therefore, we can assume that their
sensitivity to pain is at least equal to ours. According to Hippocrates, The soul is the same in all
living creatures, although the body of each is different. This can go with the Duty Theory that
states that every individual gets treated the same. The intentions of animal testing is not to harm
the animals, but that is exactly what it does.
In opposition of Hippocrates, others believe animals cannot be entitled to rights because they
have no understanding and that testing on them is a necessity. A treatment to prevent scarring and

Kristen Sawyer
Block 7 Geist
2/19/16

loss of vision after glaucoma surgery will soon be tried on patients. This was made possible
using rabbits. Following successful studies on mice and rats, a vaccine for malaria is now being
tested on people.
There is a wealth of evidence showing that animal models are not accurate and cannot be
relied upon for safety testing and disease research. Scientists and doctors recognize that while
animals are biologically very similar to human beings, they are not identical. It is unlikely that
most of the millions of lab animals that are killed yearly will have contributed to saving human
life. For cosmetics and household products, animal testing is morally wrong.
Peter Singer stated, To be opposed to what is going on now it is not necessary to insist that all
animal experiments stop immediately. All we need to say is that experiments serving no direct
and urgent purpose should stop immediately, and in the remaining fields of research, we should,
whenever possible, seek to replace experiments that involve animals with alternative methods
that do not. Animals may not have a voice, but they do feel physical and mental pain.
Experiments on animals are not conducted for fun and serious efforts are being made to eliminate
animal testing.

Kristen Sawyer
Block 7 Geist
2/19/16

Works Cited

Animal Aid. Close up on Ethics. http://www.animalaid.org 9/24/14

Singer, Peter. Animal Liberation. Pimlico, 1995.

The Humane Society of the United States. Animal Testing.
http://www.hsus.org/ace. 9/24/14

Kristen Sawyer
Block 7 Geist
2/19/16

Kristen Sawyer
Block 7 Geist
2/19/16

Grading

Criteria
Description
Points
Content
and Ideas
Clear argument about social issue
Support uses
ethos
logos
pathos
4 or more credible sources used
Antithesis addressed and refuted
0
10
20
30
40 =
35/40 PEER 1 Jacob Credible sources and great use of pathos
35/40 PEER 2 maddie smith - I think in the first paragraph you used the word morally to much
and u need a theses but over all its written very well.
30/40 add ethos logos pathos
Organization

10

Effective introduction and conclusion include hook, thesis, and final statement
3 organized paragraphs include claims, explanations, and transitions
Sequence is logical
20
30
=

Kristen Sawyer
Block 7 Geist
2/19/16

27/30 PEER 1 Jacob Organization may need some work, but effective intro
28/30 PEER 2 madison smith- really good
20/30 Self grade be more organized
Diction/
Syntax/
Conventions
Writing is all in 3 person
Quotations are embedded and properly cited within the essay
0-3 Errors in grammatical structure
rd

10

15

15/15 PEER 1 Jacob grammatically correct

15/15 PEER 2 maddie smith- not many mistakes
15/15 Self grade no grammatical errors
Publication/
Appearance
Creative title/rough draft ready on editing day 2/16-17
Proper MLA formatting; heading that includes student name, instructors name,
class, and date
Works cited page is appended.
0
5 10
15
=
15/15 PEER 1 Jacob Uses MLA template
15/15 PEER 2 NAME - good format
/15 Self grade