Essay/Term paper: Animal rights

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Animal Rights

Animal Rights


Animal rights is a very fragile topic. Opposing sides have strong
reasons to stand for either of their believes, leading to many ethical questions.
One of the major questions is who is right and who is wrong? There is no one
right answer, but instead million of them based upon our own individual opinion,
and the opinions are formed on how we feel about the facts. Animal research,
test, and use has taken humanity a long way, with its advances in medicine and
as a major source of food, but it is not morally correct to abuse, test, use,
and ultimately kill the animals unnecessarily, especially for our comforts,
luxuries, and greed.

Many benefits have been obtained through animals, mostly in the field of
Medicine. The medical world has rapidly moved forward finding cures for many
diseases through animal testing, giving new alternatives and shining a new light
for illnesses that did not have a cure before. Working with animals like
monkeys and dogs have resulted in successful open heart surgeries on people, as
well as organ transplants, and the cardiac pace maker.
The disease polio, which killed and disabled many children, is almost
completely vanished from the United States by the used of preventive vaccines
that were perfected on monkeys. Not only polio, but also mumps, measles,rubella
and smallpox have been eliminated through antibiotics tested on monkeys. Major
diseases have been alleviated and have had major advances totheir cure, diseases
such as leukemia in children among other types of cancerand tumors. Animals
not only contribute greatly in medicine, but through out the history of human
kind they have been consumed as food, being a majorsource for the basic
nutrition.

Unfortunately, some research has gone too far, putting many animals
through unnecessary pain. According to Jean Bethke Elshtain, a Centennial
Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University, the abuse that animals
go through is intolerable. Monkeys are dipped in boiling water and pigs are
burnt, without any type of painkillers to see how they react to third degree
burns. Even more horrifying is the fact that dogs and other animals are left
without care bearing open incisions, infected wounds, broken bones among other
things in a miserable atmosphere, surrounded by rotting food and their own feces.
What breaks my heart to read is how when some animals are being tested, the
researchers sometimes remove the defenseless animals vocal chords by an
operation called centriculocordectomy, so this way they will not hear the
animals' cries, groans and yelps while they are being experimented on.

Research it's not only limited to the medical field, but also in many other
areas. "Monkeys are the most likely subjects of experiments designed to measure
the effects of neutron-bomb radiation and the toxicity of chemical warfare
agent.....Radiation experiments on primates continue. Monkeys' eyes are
irradiated, and the animals are subjected to shocks of up to 1,200 volts."
Monkeys are exposed to these radiations to observe how cancer progresses. But
what observers actually see is "primates that are so distressed that they claw
themselves and even bite hunks from their own arms and legs in a futile attempt
to stop the pain." The pain these animals endure and go through is unbearable
and unnecessary, other means could be use to do the research, considering many
times these type of research is unnecessary. Even worse is the fact that
animals are been used in the production of things such as make-up and household
products. Is it really necessary for a whale to die so we can wear lipstick for
couple of hours, or so we can wax our floors? The price of these commodities is
ridiculous, an animal should never even be at risk of been hurt for such
superficial things. Many companies such as Gillette test their products on
animals before putting them on the public market. This is simply cruel,
animals are hurting and dying for things that are superficial. The worst is
the FUR COATS!!! It is a greedy murder.

If anything we are the ones that owe the animals a great debt. Without
themwe would be years behind in medicine and many things that are done now
wouldnot be able to be accomplished. But how far are we willing to go for
thesake of medicine, technology, comforts, luxuries and looks? Is all
theseworth the death and abuse of millions of animals? The answer is no.
Grantedthat they have helped us greatly in the ordeal of human kind, by letting
ustest on them and eat them, we are ultimately responsible for most of the
diseases and the habits and they should not pay for it. Even in the name of
Medical Science, the life of an animal that is taken unnecessarily was a mistake
that will never be repaired.