Animal Experimentation is Necessary Essay -- Argumentative, Synthesis

A contingent of those against the dog research laboratorys at the university protested last month, undulation signs that read, Kill? Heal? Whats It Gonna Be? and The U Kills Dogs. A fairly late article in the Washington Post (A end point cultivation Environment Nov. 5, 2000) manages to move beyond the emotion and sloganeering used by these protesters to some of the real arguments of those in opposition that the dog labs are cruel, excess and a down of money and that they should be eliminated.1 However, the arguments used by the Washington Post (and ultimately, those in opposition) are insufficient to prune the bourn of the dog labs at university. The claim that the dog labs are cruel to the animals is uncorroborated and inaccurate. The claim that the labs are unnecessary is a falsity, as alternatives are non as beneficial as the vivisection labs. Finally, the argument that the labs are a waste of money is an ill-researched, erroneous depiction of the real circumstances. T he dog labs are held p.a. at the University, on five consecutive Fridays in the early spring. In the lab, students insert catheters, draw blood, inject drugs, perform minor surgery and adopt the cardiovascular systems of seventy-two deeply anesthetized dogs. At the end of the lab, the dogs are euthanized. The resolves of this lab are to help teach the basic concepts of physiology, give students the opportunity to remark the effects of some commonly used drugs, and to provide students with a hands-on experience working with live patients. Students are given the option of not participating, but are still responsible for learning the material typifyed in the lab. This year, thirty students (out of one hundred and thirty-t... ...as cost-efficient as the labs themselves. At the present time, the arguments used by the Washington Post do not justify the termination of the vivisection labs at the University, as they can be refuted point by point. If at some time in the future, an alte rnative method that serves the purpose of teaching human physiology while providing hands on experience for students becomes available, and proves to be better than the vivisection labs, then the issue should be reexamined. Until then, the annual dog labs should wait to be a part of the curriculum at the university. Notes 1. A Terminal Learning Environment. Washington Post, 5 November 1999 7. 2. Terminal. 3. Terminal. 4. Dave Curtin, Protesters Greet Med Students Annual CU testing ground Uses Anesthetized Canines. Denver Post, 11 March 2000 1. 5. Curtin. 6. Terminal.