Animal Testing Essays (2182 words) - Animal Testing, Animal Rights

Animal Testing Medicines, household products, food, and basically everything involved in the life of an average person has to under go a form of testing before it is legal to be placed on a shelf and if available to the public. The same tests are performed on every medical procedure that is introduced to surgeons. Since the only way to directly mimic the human body is to use it itself, scientists were forced to find the closest and best alternative. That is where animals were introduced to the medical profession. Experimentation on animals date back to as early as 500 BC, making this form of medical validation one of the oldest known to humans. It is not only one of the oldest but one of the most informative. Scientists use animals in medical research to study how the body works and how to diagnose, cure, and prevent disease. Researchers also use animals for tests to try to protect the public from dangerous chemicals, (Day, 13) such as those included in detergents, bleach, and other household products. When live animals are used in experimentation, this practice is called vivisection. Animals are used in many instances because their bodies often react in a similar way to that of a humans. Although animals have been used in medical research for numerous years it was not until the early 1920's that it became more prominent. It was at this point that the introduction of using live, un-anesthetized, animals to study toxic effects on an increasing array of drugs, pesticides and food additives was introduced. After this great advance in medical research the results of using animals grew with leaps and bounds. In 1970 this process peaked with the use of millions of animals. Since then, according to the USDA's Animals Welfare Enforcement, 1,267,828 animals were used for medical purposes in 1998, which is more than a 50 percent decrease since 1970. Although this is a drastic drop in animals used there have been many medical advances; virtually every medical break through this century has come about as the result of research with animals. (Office of Technology) Of the many animals used for experiments, about 90 percent of the animals used are rats, mice and other rodents. Animals such as these are used for two reasons, one because they are readily available upon request, and two because they are cheap which helps aid the large cost of animals experimentation. Although it has been proven, that in many cases, rats and mice are not an accurate subject to test medicines on; their popularity has only grown larger. Mechanize (a travel sickness drug) caused severe deformities in rats, but not in humans, whereas Thalidomide (a sedative drug) caused no reaction in rats but cause deformities in humans. This is only one of the many cases where mice and rats have been found as faulty test subjects. With the wide range of animals that are available, the tests the are used on them are even vaster. The tests are broken down into many different categories, which allows scientists to zero in on certain areas of testing and to specify results. The largest and most useful area of testing is called Toxicity Testing. In toxicity tests, animals are generally exposed to chemicals in ways that are meant to mimic human exposure, by ingestion, inhalation, skin contact and contact with the eyes. The type of animals used in this field include rodents, dogs, cats, fish, birds (chickens, hens, pigeons) rabbits, frogs, pigs, sheep, and primates. Toxicity testing is aimed at providing information, which can be used to attempt to protect society and the environment against the harmful effects of chemicals. (Boyd, 184) Eye irritancy tests, the largest and most controversial area in toxcity testing, began in 1920. It was introduced because soldiers were exposed to mustard gas in World War I, their eyes began to burn and some lost sight. To understand what the effects of the mustard gas more clearly scientist used rabbits as their test subjects. They would force they eyes of the rabbit open and let mustard gas fester for days, they would then compare their findings to the effects on humans. After this first introduction to the benefits of eye irritancy tests its use began more useful. This method of toxicity tests is now used to test everything from shampoo to pesticides. Anti-vivisection activists consider this type of testing the most cruel because it directly damages a vital part of an animals body. Also, it is very hard to repair the eye due to its

Boys and Girls Comparative Ess essays

Boys and Girls Comparative Ess essays The movie remake of Alice Munros short story Boys and Girls fails to represent the authors intention; in comparison to the short story. The movie eliminates crucial events, which enables the audience to have impression of what the girl is feeling and show sympathy for her. As a result of eliminating the scene in which the horse is getting killed; the audience is unaware of how the girl copes and is affected by the situation. It was stated in the story that for the girl to be able to go to sleep; she would imagine herself as a different person, a heroine. These stories were deleted in the movie therefore we are unaware of what she think and hopes for. There is also a big contrast in relationships in both versions. In the movie the girls mother continuously supports and defends her against her grandmothers constant bickering; where as in the story all of the girls resentment was directed towards her mother. The relationship between the girl and her father was also falsely represented i n the movie. He seemed overly excited when Laird assisted in the recapturing the horse; therefore she showed resentment towards her brother and especially her father. The ending of the movie version is extremely different from the original story and shies away from authors intentions. In the closing scene of the movie; the girl is sitting in a truck and says, Theyll never catch me. This is in reference to how the caught Flora and killed The movie does not give the audience very closure because it can be interpreted in very many different ways; where as in the story the ending is very abrupt and concise. There are many different interpretations taken by both versions of the story boys and girls. Unfortunately the movie seems to shy away from the authors original objective. ...