nd to get tissues to treat skull born birth defects in children. In order to decide whether these actions taken by activists are right or appropriate we need to answer this question: Are the benefits of animal experimentation worth the pain that the laboratory animal experiences? Once this question is answered, the question of whether animal Secor 2 experimentation is ethical or not will also be answered. The use of animals in the life sciences goes back to ancient Greece and the earliest medical experiments. To learn about swallowing, ancient physicians cut open the throat of a living pig. To study the heart they cut into its chest. For centuries, physicians and researchers used animals to enhance their knowledge about how the various organs and systems of the body functioned, as well as to improve their surgical skills. As this knowledge grew, new scientific disciplines were born. First physiology, and pharmacology, and much later bacteriology, and immunology evolved as animal experimentation became more widespread. Table 2 depicts the great leaps animal experimentation has provided to the human race. This timeline is proof of great advances gained from animal testing for human benefit. Without testing or experimentation of animals none of this would have evolved. Human beings are not the only species who benefit from animal testing. Table 1 depicts the advances in biomedical research for animals. Without animal research humans and animals would still be dying or totally wiped out from these diseases. Advances for Animals Table 1 Vaccines: Rabies Distemper Canine Parvo Virus Feline Respiratory disease Feline Leukemia Anthrax Tetanus Hepatitis Nutrition: Heart disease in cats was eliminated supplementing diets with Taurine. This also prevented Feline Urologic Syndrome (FUS) Heartworm: A rapid and accurate test now facilitates diagnosis of this insect-transmitted disease. Heartworm medication, also discovered through animal experimentation is one of the most important advances in the history Lime Disease: Spread by ticks, this disease causes arthritis as well as heart and Kidney problems in dogs. Animal research led to a vaccine to prevent infection, as well as more accurate diagnostic techniques. Endangered Species: Many endangered species have a chance of surviving thanks to biomedical research on in vitro fertilization and embryo transplant techniques. Source: Partners in Research. “Animals Benefit From Biomedical Research.” http://www.pirweb.org/animals_do_benefit.htm (15, Feb. 2000). Secor 3 Table 1 Advances in Medicine Through Animal Research Pre 1900’s Treatment for Smallpox: Treatment for Whooping Cough: One of the worlds most dreaded A highly communicable respiratory disease plagues, estimated to have caused characterized by short, dry coughs. Species two million deaths. Species studied: cows studies: guinea pigs and rabbits Treatment for Anthrax: 1950’s Disease marked by rise in body temperature, Prevention of Polio: followed by depression, spasms respiratory or A disease marked by symptoms ranging from mild cardiac distress, convulsions, and death. infection to extensive paralysis. Today the disease has Species studied: sheep been eradicated in the western hemisphere. Species 1900’s studied: rabbits, monkeys, and rodents Cardiac Catheterization Techniques: Discovery of DNA A procedure which allows doctors to Determines individual hereditary characteristics. insert a flexible tube into an artery or vein Species studied: rats and mice to the heart, used for injecting drugs direc

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