In these cases, the ethical and moral choice seems to be to find another way to test these products that is not so cruel, and to keep cruel procedures out of the labs altogether. The case of the cat sex experiments at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City in the 1960s are another case in point. Researchers maimed cats in a variety of ways, from removing parts of their brains to obliterating their sense of smell, and then noted how these procedures affected their sexual activities. The study continued for over a decade, without any clear results, and when the public learned about it, there was a huge outcry and the testing stropped (Degrazia 98). Studies like this, without a clear purpose, seem even more cruel and unusual, and they helped to give animal research such a bad reputation that laws were enacted regarding the ethical treatment of animals.
I do believe there will come a time that scientists no longer have to use animals in scientific research. I believe that we will develop other methods of study, technologies, and understanding so that we do not have to do testing on animals to achieve health and psychological goals. I also believe that will take some time, but that it will happen, perhaps within another lifetime or two. I do not believe it will happen in a few years, we still have too far too go and too much to develop, so I think animal research will continue for at least one or two decades or more. Veterinarian Larry Carbone continues, "But animal research will not end any time soon because far too many people are far too convinced of its necessity. That is why so many of us who care about animals devote our energies to reform and improvement, rather than lending support to abolitionist movements"...
However, Carbone also believes there will come a time when animal research is no longer necessary, that technology and public opinion will make it obsolete. I do hope that animal research does end one day, and that society can find a better way to develop new research and healthcare techniques, rather than using animals that have no voice.
In conclusion, scientific animal research has served a vital role in the healthcare and psychological fields, and it has lead to many breakthroughs in healthcare and psychological treatment. Many people see it as a "necessary evil" that does ultimately save lives and lead to new technologies, while others see it as simply "evil." There are numerous drawbacks to scientific animal research, including perceived cruelty to the animals, their pain and suffering, and the fact that they are often euthanized after the experimentation is through. Someday, most experts believe there will be no more animal experimentation, but that does not seem quite possible in the near future.
References
Carbone, Larry. What Animals Want: Expertise and Advocacy in Laboratory Animal Welfare Policy. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Degrazia, David. Animal Rights: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Editors. "Animal Research in Psychology." American Psychological Association. 2009. 1 March 2009. http://www.apa.org/science/animal2.html.
Katrink, Vicki. "Blinded for Beauty: Rabbits Used in Product Testing." American Anti-Vivisection Society. 2009. 1 March 2009. http://www.aavs.org/testingTypesBlinded.html.
Tillett, Tanya. "Of Mice and Women." Environmental Health Perspectives 115.5 (2007): 249.
