The Debate

The debate about using animals for medical testing has been ongoing for years. The struggle is usually between extreme animal rights activists and scientists. The animal rights activists believe animals should never be used for research, and the scientists believe any use of animals is acceptable. In ancient Greece animals were used for the study of life science. To learn about body functions scientists would cut into a live animal to observe vital parts in action. Animals have been used for centuries to help researchers understand the various organs of the body, and their functions as well as to improve their surgical skills. In the nineteenth century a rise in biomedical research subsequently increased the number of animals used in experiments. In the 1970’s the animal rights movement erupted on a grand scale.