Ethical debate

As Shayesteh was uncomfortable testing on bigger animals in labs, thinking of different animals in laboratory conditions implicates different things for people.

Groups like the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) oppose all animal use, including the use of smaller animals.

“There’s no reason why any student should be asked to cut up a dead animal for a grade,” said Bridget Dillon, a youth campaign coordinator at PETA.

For others, a line is drawn somewhere in the middle based on the types of animals and the nature of the experiment.

“It depends on how much pain, suffering, and death you’re inflicting on what kind of organism for what purpose. If the research is meaningless, any harm is unethical,” Greely said.

Cultural values also contribute to a person’s willingness to support animal use in research.

“For people from India, cattle research would be shunned because cattle are very culturally praised and religiously special,” Greely said.

Others believe that the benefits of animal use make it worthwhile because it assists learning.

“It’s very beneficial to learn how to do dissections on animals rather than just watching a video on it, especially for people like me who want to pursue a career as a surgeon,” said Jacob Viduya, a freshman studying biology at the College of San Mateo.

For some people, research with animals regarded as pets, like dogs or cats, is a challenging thought.

“I think it would be really hard for me, knowing how intelligent dogs and cats are and how much feeling they have would really impact the way I feel and the way I would learn…If I had to, I could probably work around it, but I would have some objection to it,” said Jack Clark, a senior at Bellarmine College Prep who’s thinking about majoring in pre-med in college.

Those who have worked in an animal facility with board-certified veterinarians know that others have misconceptions about what happens behind closed doors.

“Most people think that animal research is all pain,” Cork said. “Two-thirds of it doesn’t cause any pain whatsoever. There’s about one-fourth that does cause some pain and we’ll use anesthesia so the animal isn’t distressed.”   

The rest of animal research does cause pain, but anesthesiologists don’t give animals anesthesia because it can defeat the purpose of the experiment.

The ethical debate surrounding animal use comes down to factors including: the benefits, what animals are being used, and the well-being of animals. Many people settle on some sort of middle ground that aligns with their morals.