Animals did not divergently evolve from humans with the purpose of being tortured and experimented on. When they are used for testing, the very least we can do is to treat them humanely with as little pain inflicted on the animal as possible. Instead, animals are deprived of painkillers and are subjected to cruel experiments such as inhaling diesel fumes for commercial testing.

Animals need a bill of rights or code of ethics to be treated with respect for the work they do. While I will not argue against the fact that animal testing can help advance society, they are entitled to humane treatment such as painkillers, proper nutrition, and a quality of life like the treatment human test subjects receive. In exchange for providing valuable information, the least we as experimenters can do is provide them with a beneficial diet and sanitary, spacious cages or pens.

Studies conducted on animals are being held to a lower standard on ethics compared to studies done on humans. Animals are allowed to be abused however the study deems necessary without regard for the beings that are just as intellectually capable and complex as we are. These studies enable animals’ to be tormented and tossed aside for the alleged greater good, and they ignore the fact that animals can benefit from test results and deserve humane treatment.

Clinical trials with humans give compensation either in the form of money, travel expenses and living/relocation expenses. Trials also must follow a code of ethics, and as a student with an explored interest in psychology and neuroscience, the clinical trials and psychological studies I’ve witnessed have been held to the ethical code of the American Psychological Association (APA) that prevents subjects from being treated inhumanely. The Little Albert Study is one of the earliest and most well-known studies on classical conditioning that violated the APA’s ethical code.

The Little Albert Study took a 9-month old baby and placed a mouse and other furry objects in front of the baby. The baby gleefully played with the mouse and objects (as a baby would do) until the researchers produced a loud noise behind the child’s head as he played with these objects. This repeated loud noise caused the child to be afraid of the objects when they were later placed in front of him.

This study violated the APA’s ethical code because ethically, psychologists are supposed to benefit the subject instead of harming them. The researchers never de-conditioned the child, so the conditioned fear remained with the child which caused permanent psychological damage to the child.

Animals are subjected to crueler studies: they have been rammed into walls inside of a car, they have forcibly inhaled diesel fumes for safety, they have been blinded by the beauty industry, and they are kept in tight, filthy cages for science testing. Animals cannot consent to these cruel experiments, so by common sense wouldn’t these tests fall under the same criteria that made the Little Albert study unethical? Unless you can convince me that these tests are vastly different in nature, both tests are conducted unethically because both subjects cannot give consent and both subjects are harmed greatly in both situations because there is no benefit that greatly outweighs the suffering they experience.

Since Proposition 12 passed in California, farm animals will receive more humane treatment including larger spaces. We need to extend this notion to animals used for testing.  

Unfortunately for medical testing, the FDA requires that drugs and treatments be tested on animals before beginning clinical trials. While not much can be done to change the laws, these animals can be given painkillers that human subjects would have had access to. More attention can also be paid towards their needs such as food, social interaction, and sanitary and large living areas. Scientists beginning to conduct their very first clinical trials need to provide sanitary environments and proper nutrition for their subjects as well as painkillers if their trial is painful for their subjects. Animals have the right to live painlessly like we do, we need to respect that right.