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Animals were friends or foes¹ of humanity at different stages of the human history. In modern times, experiments upon animals have been a breeding ground for spirited debate. Some animal rights activists² argue that we should ban animal experiments altogether because subjecting animals to experimentation³ is unwarranted on moral grounds, whereas some other people contend that the advancement⁴ of science necessitates⁵ animal testing. Personally, I am in favor of the latter view.

Granted, mounting empirical evidence suggests that many animal experiments are performed callously⁶ without any heed⁷ to the discomfort⁸ or pain that laboratory mammals endure. For one thing, improper⁹ confinement¹⁰ of test animals such as locking them up in cramped¹¹ cages is inhumane; and this, in turn, can severely¹² disrupt natural biological functions of the test animal. For another, the effects of vaccination¹³ or vivisection conducted on live mammals can be chilling. In extreme cases, they constitute sheer torture of animals.

Nevertheless, from a more pragmatic standpoint, evidence abounds¹⁴ that animal subjects are still an indispensable part of scientific research at this phase of human development. In the first place, drug experimentation on live mammals is, indisputably, far more effectual than experimentation on bacteria or on other lower species in determining drug safety. Medical history informs that drugs that can potentially exert grave side effects on homo sapiens must be tested by pharmaceutical¹⁵ companies on live mammals first to ascertain¹⁶ their toxicity¹⁷. In the second place, in the realm of space research, live animals are still practical alternatives on a flight not considered to be sufficiently¹⁸ safe for human astronauts. And I would be hard-pressed to imagine the scenario¹⁹ that human lives should be put at stake when the objective of a space mission is merely to identify living creatures’ reaction to outer space experience. Lastly, lab research about the behavioral tendencies of chimpanzees, gorillas²⁰ or other members of the primate²¹ group is also a worthy²² endeavor, in light of the fact that it generates outcomes consistently advancing anthropological²³ and genetic²⁴ sciences.

To conclude, I concede that experiments upon animals may induce suffering to the test animals. However, it is generally arguable that there are no practical alternatives to this methodology at the current stage of scientific development. On balance , I am convinced that what we should do is to allow animals testing to be continued but at the same time use techniques such as analgesic²⁵, anesthetic²⁶ and tranquilizing drugs to minimize the pain of the test animal.