Essay Notes on Sos Topics
Animal Vivisection
The practice of cutting open the bodies of living animals in order to do medical or scientific tests on them.
Pros
- the importance of studying anatomy for scientific understanding (research into genetic engineering, treatment of diseases such as cancer, training of biology students and so on)
- no viable alternative; testing on humans is both morally and ethically wrong and therefore not acceptable.
- laboratory animals are bred for that specific purpose
Cons
- cruelty to animals; many believe that animals have rights and therefore should not be subjected to laboratory tests
- a lot of experiments conducted for reasons of little importance such as the testing of cosmetics
Solutions
- control of unnecessary testing
- advanced computer modelling could make the use of so many laboratory animals unnecessary.
Terms: guinea-pig, laboratory testing, vital research, cruelty, injustice, inhumane, animal rights
Animal Captivity
Keeping animals in zoos, circuses, or in a domestic environment.
Pros
- zoos protect endangered species as natural habitats are being destroyed by human activity such as farming, logging, the creation of urban settlements
- zoos have initiated breeding programmes to replenish the number of threatened species by releasing bred animals back into the wild
- zoos allow scientific study of animals and their behaviour
- many animals are bred in captivity, so have never known their natural habitat and thus do not suffer
- zoos and circus represent a way by which people can see animals they would never normally have an opportunity to see in real life
- domestic animals such as dogs and cats have been specifically bred for the purpose of providing company and comfort and are, by and large, kept well by their owners
Cons
- zoos and especially circuses only exist as a form of entertainment; e.g. circuses train wild animals to perform tricks
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The practice of cutting open the bodies of living animals in order to do medical or scientific tests on them.
Pros
- the importance of studying anatomy for scientific understanding (research into genetic engineering, treatment of diseases such as cancer, training of biology students and so on)
- no viable alternative; testing on humans is both morally and ethically wrong and therefore not acceptable.
- laboratory animals are bred for that specific purpose
Cons
- cruelty to animals; many believe that animals have rights and therefore should not be subjected to laboratory tests
- a lot of experiments conducted for reasons of little importance such as the testing of cosmetics
Solutions
- control of unnecessary testing
- advanced computer modelling could make the use of so many laboratory animals unnecessary.
Terms: guinea-pig, laboratory testing, vital research, cruelty, injustice, inhumane, animal rights
Animal Captivity
Keeping animals in zoos, circuses, or in a domestic environment.
Pros
- zoos protect endangered species as natural habitats are being destroyed by human activity such as farming, logging, the creation of urban settlements
- zoos have initiated breeding programmes to replenish the number of threatened species by releasing bred animals back into the wild
- zoos allow scientific study of animals and their behaviour
- many animals are bred in captivity, so have never known their natural habitat and thus do not suffer
- zoos and circus represent a way by which people can see animals they would never normally have an opportunity to see in real life
- domestic animals such as dogs and cats have been specifically bred for the purpose of providing company and comfort and are, by and large, kept well by their owners
Cons
- zoos and especially circuses only exist as a form of entertainment; e.g. circuses train wild animals to perform tricks
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