Animal Testing

To Keep Animal Testing Legal

Did you know that animals and humans have over 200 illnesses in common?

Today I am going to be talking about why I agree that animal testing is necessary. Dr. Daniel H. Johnson, Jr., former president of the American Medical Association stated "Animal research - followed by human clinical study - is absolutely necessary to find the causes and cures for so many deadly threats from AIDS to cancer." I will give reasons in this speech why I think animal testing is necessary. The first reason I will discuss is to understand how our bodies work, the second reason is to test forms of treatment, and the final reason is to test new drugs.

The first reason we need animal testing is because scientists and doctors need to know how the healthy body works before they can treat illnesses. Many human body functions are the same as animal body functions. Animals are like people in that their bodies’ breath, consume food, move, see, hear and reproduce. Because of these comparisons, scientists use animals to study how the normal body works.

My second reason is to test forms of treatment. When scientists have some knowledge of an illness or disease, treatment plans are created and animals are used to test these treatments. Information from the animal studies is necessary before new healing techniques or surgical procedures can be tested on human patients. From new drugs to ground-breaking surgeries, medical treatments are tested on animals to ensure our safety. X-rays and implants such as artificial hips are safe and effective only because they were tested first in animals.

My third and last reason is to test new drugs so they are correct and safe. Identifying new drugs for treating disease requires animal testing because scientists must determine both the beneficial and harmful effects of the drug. Valuable and safe