Mediation of Brief

In today’s society, animal testing and factory farming are necessary for our survival. Testing drugs and medical procedures helps to ensure that they are safe for human use. Currently, animal testing is the most efficient method to perform these tests. On the other hand, animal testing is not necessary for the experimentation of cosmetics or household products because these items do not save human lives. In these cases, alternatives to animal testing such as stem cells, tissue samples, or computer models should be used whenever appropriate.
In addition to animal testing, factory farming is necessary to supply the nation with enough meat and animal food products. The limited farmland and increased demand for food in this nation has required farmers to maximize the efficiency of their farms. This means confining lots of animals in small spaces, although the treatment of these animals needs not be so hostile. There are ways to decrease the sufferings of farm animals without affecting the output of these farms, including, “1) Provide either prompt veterinary care or euthanasia to all downer cows and pigs, 2) kill every male layer chick using a gas other than carbon dioxide, 3) improve standards for stunning poultry and livestock at slaughterhouses, 4) ban farrowing and gestation crates for breeder sows, and 5) provide a local anesthetic to calves and piglets prior to castration,” (Marcus 55). These cases should be enforced upon farm owners by the government, although they already do not enforce existing restrictions on large scale farming.
Evidence: Animals feel pain just as humans do so it is necessary to ease the suffering. “Of course, it is harder to tell what animals are feeling, since it is harder for them to communicate with us. But we should not deny that animals feel pain just because they cannot tell us that they do. Most animals have the same nervous system as we do so when they are in the kind of circumstances in which we would feel pain: their blood pressure rises, their pulse rate increases, their pupils dilate, glands in their brains secrete chemicals that we know as painkillers” (Hills 39).
Evidence: While it is necessary to supply the nation with a plentiful amount of meat and animal products, the suffering of farm animals can be decreased in many ways so why should we continue to treat the animals so cruelly? Most people are unaware of the conditions that animals are subjected to in various factories and farms: “Animals are treated so badly in factory farming that it should not be allowed to continue in its present form. There should be much stricter regulations in farming to raise the standards of animals’ welfare” (Hills 169).
Marcus, Erik. Meat Market: Animals, Ethics, and Money. Boston: Brio Press, 2005.
Hills, Alison. Do Animals Have Rights?. United Kingdom: Icon Books, 2005.