The use of animals in laboratory testing is very beneficial to the animals as well as human beings. There is perceived to be a lot of similarities between the physiological mechanism of some animals and that of man. For instance, the physiology of guinea pig is considered to be 98% similar to that of human being.
That is the reason why they are mostly used in the laboratory testing since they are perceived to give results that can relate to the results that would be received if human beings were used in the research. A lot of the knowledge that is known about hormones was discovered by studying the behavior of mice in the laboratory. Similarly, most of the knowledge that we have about cardiovascular is as a result of laboratory study of dogs.
Likewise, the use of animals in Laboratory testing help to discover some drugs that are used by animals as well as human beings. Thus, as much as it is beneficial to man to use animals in laboratories testing, it is also equally important to animals as well. Subsequently, veterinarians who have been equipped for concern of animals are closely involved in taking care and treatment of the animals that are used in the laboratory.
Thus, these veterinarians have realized that the results that are realized from the animal research are very crucial in the improvement of the health of human being as well as that of animals. It is noted that a great extent in the advancement of veterinary medicine has been as a result of research with animals.
For instance, the parvovirus vaccine that is routinely administered to dogs has saved death of many dogs. Similarly, the research in the reproductive physiology on animals has greatly assisted many species of animals from extinction. Therefore, animal research is very necessary for a continued improvement in the health and safety of both animals as well as human beings (American Association for Animals in Laboratory par. 3).
It is beneficial to use animals for laboratory testing because animals such as mice as well as pigs have short life cycles. They take much shorter time than human being to grow and mature. The short life cycles of these animals means that scientists have an ample time to study the behavior of these animals when subjected to various conditions over their entire life or over a generation.
This helps the researcher very much to make appropriate inferences that will help in the development of appropriate drugs for animals or human beings. Shorter time period that is associated with animals helps the research process to realize appropriate results over a shorter time period than if human beings were used as the research instruments.
Quicker realization of the research results indicates that the drugs that are under investigation are in a position to be developed faster than if human beings were used in the research process. Quicker development of the required drugs helps to elevate the suffering from both animals as well as human beings. It also means that lesser amount of money will be used in these researches. This is because the longer the time a research process takes, the higher the cost of undertaking the research.
This is because those instruments that are used in the research process whether being animals or human beings will require to being fed and taken care of. Thus, by prolonging the research period, it means that these instruments will consume more which will subsequently increase the cost of undertaking the research (GEARI par 16).
Works Cited
American Association for Animals in Laboratory. “Animal Research FAQ” .12 Feb. 2010. Web.
GEARI. “What are some arguments in favor of testing on animals?” 23 Aug. 2007.Web. Nov.2011.