Selectivity of Animal Rights

For decades, animal models have played a pivotal role in modern science and biotechnology, especially in the realm of medicine. By using techniques such as genetic manipulation, for example, researchers are able to use animal models to gain insight about development as well as various disease states which can then be translated such that it is applicable to human beings. Due to the wide use of animals in science, ethical guidelines have been developed regarding the proper handling and treatment of animals in the laboratory to ensure that the animals are not exploited and that their rights are not violated.

Violation of these regulations for proper animal care in the laboratory setting contributed to the closing of a primate research facility at Harvard Medical School earlier this year. Concerns about the facility arose in 2010 when investigators did not notice for a period of time that one of the research subjects had died—albeit from natural causes—and another was so severely dehydrated due to a malfunctioning water bottle in its cage that it needed to be euthanized. Such mistreatment of the animal subjects was one of the multiple factors that led to the closing of the facility but as the article states, the closing did not end research on primates entirely. However, it greatly reduced such research given the numerous studies that were being conducted at this facility. In addition, the article states that in 2011, the National Institutes of Health created a policy that withheld all new grants for behavioral or biomedical research on primates unless absolutely necessary for human health and there were no other viable options. Given the close evolutionary relationship between primates and human beings, this could potentially be detrimental to the advancement of medicine and technology as studying primates has and continues to provide us with boundless insight regarding human health including communicable and neurodegenerative disease states that is unparalleled by any other species.

The article also cites reduced government spending on biomedical research as a reason for why the facility closed. However, the implication in Emily Anthes’ book, Frankenstein’s Cat, is that this industry continues to flourish as animals are being mass produced for the sake of animal testing as well as for more trivial causes such as designer pets. Anthes mentioned conferences that are held to sell different rodent mutants displaying particular physical phenotypes or disease states for the sake of animal research. Fish are genetically manipulated such that they fluoresce under certain lights. Finally, dogs are bred to keep up with the latest trends and such that human beings can select for specific traits. Human manipulation of animals to fit our varying needs and preferences has become a business and animals, a commodity.

It is very interesting to note that an entire research facility shutdown due to mistreatment of some species yet our society continues to exploit other species for the sake of our own preference and entertainment. There are stricter regulations prohibiting the use of primate subjects unless completely necessary compared with the regulations in place for other animals such as fish and dogs. Research on primates can be extremely useful for human beings but they are better protected simply because of their close evolutionary relationship to human beings. Why are the rights of animals that are most closely related to human beings preserved to a greater extent than that of those species who are more distantly related? This raises a whole other dimension to ethical dilemmas surrounding the use of animals for testing, research and manipulation in general. There should be more universal guidelines that are applied to all animal species regarding their testing such that they are only used in research that can provide valuable information for human beings. Commercial use of animals may play a role in strengthening our economy but it should be limited if not completely eliminated if its sole purpose is not to improve the health of human beings.  

Works Cited

Anthes, E. (2013). Frankenstein's cat cuddling up to biotech's brave new beasts. (1st ed.). New York, NY: Scientific American.

Walsh, B. (2013, April 24). As harvard closes a primate research center, are lab chimps becoming a thing of the past. Time Magazine, Retrieved from http://science.time.com/2013/04/24/as-harvard-closes-a-primate-research-center-are-lab-chimps-becoming-a-thing-of-the-past/