Some people claim that it is acceptable to use animals in medical research for the benefit of human beings

It is often argued that there should be a ban on the use of animals for experimentation in medical laboratories. While I understand this argument, I do not agree with this viewpoint. Undoubtedly, animal testing is excessively cruel and unethical. Every year, millions of animals such as mice, dogs, frogs, guinea pigs and monkeys are mercilessly tormented during experiments. To illustrate the case of severe cruelty, monkey's skull, many times, is cut open without administering any anesthesia, and then some electrodes are cold-bloodedly implanted into it for carry out some further research into brain tumors. This act of brutality committed on our innocent fellow beings is utterly unscrupulous as we humans have got no right to inflict pain on these unoffending creatures for our vested interests. However, I do not support a ban on animal research because animal testing is the only reliable choice. These tests cannot be conducted directly on either computers or humans. Computers, being machines, cannot prove the efficacy of drugs, and direct human trails are almost impossible for two major reasons. Firstly, for the proper testing of medicines, a large number of animals are required, but it may not be possible to have a huge number of healthy human beings for these trails. Secondly, the short life span of animals allows scientists to study the medicinal effects on the body throughout the entire life cycle and even through several generations within a short period of time, but this research time would prolong considerably in case of humans because of their longer life expectancy. To conclude, although animal testing is a barbaric and immoral act of humans, my view is that it should not be prohibited since there is no other better alternative available as of now.