Does Animal Research Save Lives?

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Does Animal Research Save Lives?

My belief is that animal research does save lives, but it must be done without the slightest intention of cruelty. Animal research, done in a humane manner, has been proven to be beneficial to mankind. Animal research has helped in the advancement of biomedical research dating as far back as the polio vaccine, all the way to their present use in pharmaceutical experiments. With out animal research, major advances in medicine could never have been achieved, resulting in shorter, unhealthy lives for all human beings. Animal activists argue that extreme amounts of pain are inflicted on the unknowing creatures, and at the same time they are forced to endure horrid living conditions. Actually, living standards are designed to consider animal health and well being not only for ethical reasons, but valid results cannot be obtained from mistreated animals.
I believe in using animal for research for the advancement of biomedical science, but not in animal cruelty. There have to be standards, limits, and certain procedures followed, as defined in the Animal Welfare Act (AWA Briefs 1). Scientific experiments have to be done on animals in a humane manner, so that humans can continue to benefit from the findings, since humans cannot be used initially for the wide majority of the experiments. There are alternatives for some experiments, but many of them have yet to be proven beneficial. Therefore, animal research must continue until these alternatives have proven to be effective and to benefit society.
Anyone who has looked into biomedical research can hardly deny that major advances in medicine most definitely have been and will continue to be achieved. Not only in the search for new drugs, but also in the development of virtually all modern vaccines against infections and diseases, which include smallpox and polio vaccines. Animal research has given us our present state of knowledge on shock, advanced surgic...