ETHICAL DISCOURSE OF MEDICAL SCIENCE ON ANIMALS’ RESEARCH AND RIGHTS

Scholars vary in their concept and views concerning research and the fundamental rights of animals in the hands of humankind who have the duty to protect rather than maltreat them. If human beings had chosen a hundred years ago to stop using animals in scientific and medical research, the world would be a very different place today. Many of us are here because we did not die as children, or our parents did not die, from diseases that have been controlled through the knowledge gained from animal research. The biological information that has unlocked the secrets of genetics, shed light on the workings of the brain, and made it possible to understand new diseases like AIDS would not exist. Even the animals that we keep as pets and raise for food would live shorter and less healthy lives, because many of the vaccines and treatments that have become staples of veterinary medicine would never have been developed.This research probes into the question of ethical justification of animals‘ research and how this evokes ethical positions. It engages the ultimate question of what the human ethical responsibility towards non-human animals is, considering that fundamental rights of animals have suffered a great deal in the hands of humankind who rather have the duty to protect them. The research adopted a critical analytic method with which it has evaluated the human treatment of non-humans. Data was collected from the primary source by way of interview and observations and secondary source from text books, journals, internet materials etc. It has discovered that, fundamentally, the true test of human morality consists of the attitudes towards the rights of non-human animal species at our mercy of human. The research engaged critical discourses that bother on the ethical question of relationship and responsibility of human to non-human animal. The research is significant as it could assist in the development of improved animal welfare strategies. This is due to the fact that human health benefits and the tie to human welfare are considered very important. The research recommends that, human beings should ensure they live up to their deserved moral duty and avoid exploitation of animals as permitted in societal processes.