ANIMALS SHOULD NOT BE USED FOR DRUG DEVELOPMENT OR MEDICAL RESEARCH

ishita tripathi 01-Sep-2016 Image Source

The man has from times immemorial exploited animals to serve his ends. They have been used for making his life comfortable by catering to his various needs. It is therefore against the basic tenets of morality to perpetuate pain and suffering on these poor creatures such as pigs, dogs, frogs, etc. on the pretext of facilitating medical research. This is for we have no right to destroy what we cannot create. The life of an animal is also precious and invaluable like we have for us. Destroying them in this manner is but trampling on their basic right to live.

Often people advocate the use of animals for medical research on the grounds of expedience for the larger benefit to mankind. Can such an absurd logic justify the daily extermination of millions of frogs, birds, etc. by school and college students to make them aware of the basic metabolic system? We all know that only a minuscule number of students actually pursue a career in medicine or pharmacology. The majority migrate to other field like commerce and arts. What a colossal waste of precious animal lives sacrificed at the altar of the above premise with no benefits accuring to mankind.

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Such senseless killing of animals must make us hang our heads in shame. It shows our complete insensitivity towards them. At the same time killing them in such a wanton manner makes us cruel and uncaring for life even towards our own fellow human beings. This callous attitude to life is reflected in the growing incidence of violence in the society especially among the youth.

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We have over centuries used animals to enrich our lives. This, however, does not give us the right to sacrifice their lives in the wanton manner as is being done today. The need of the hour is to develop advanced technology to stimulate the various life processes for drug development or medical research. We should only in special cases use animals for drugs and medicines. This would our interference with nature, and at the same time respect the animals, right to live.