Discussion: Animal Research (Coursework Sample)

Discussion: Animal Research
Name:
Institutional affiliation:
Date:
Specific Research Involving animals.
Animal research has greatly benefited the medical sector, but ethical issues involving misuse of animal subjects during animal research continue to undermine its continuity. Animals (mice, birds, monkeys, among others), have rights, and these rights must always be observed in research. Few animal research adheres to animal rights during research, something that continues to impact the rights of animals (Peta, 2020). In a recent experiment at Louisiana State University (LSU), Christine Lattin captured hundreds of sparrow birds, affixed transmitters on them, starved them, injected sex steroids, plucked their feathers, and placed them in cloth bags with a sole goal of studying how stressful environments affect the subjects.
Ethical Issues in the Research
Like many other animal research, this research by Christine Lattin failed to adhere to animal ethics and violated animal rights in many ways. In addition to offering zero addition to human medical research, the research subjected birds to unnecessary pain, suffering, and death. The research did not factor in the fact that animals and humans are alike in many ways; they think, feel, behave and experience pain (Dunnuck, 2014). Research ethics clearly states that it is unethical to impose pain, inject birds with substances, and or expose them to events that damage their tissues or alter their behaviour.
Conducting animal research in an ethical way
Christine’s research which subjected over 200 birds to pain and suffering was not necessary, instead she would have adopted other research alternatives such mathematical modelling to understand such behaviours. Secondly, use of hundreds of birds to conduct a research exercise that offers no value to