ABSTRACT
The use of animals for biomedical research is a controversial and complex moral issue that has been debated for centuries. Philosophers have purported the concept that humans have greater ‘moral standing’ than animals since they have vastly superior sensory and cognitive abilities thereby making the lesser evolved animal species the more humane choice for research studies. Others have stated that moral standing cannot be ranked, but rather moral standing comes with the simple possession of life consistent with sentience and therefore experimental studies utilizing animals should be weighed with the same consideration as those using humans. Yet others argue that animals should not be used in research as may well have sensory and cognitive abilities which make them comparable to humans however, science has yet evolved to cleanly de¢ne their ‘emotional’ capabilities (Laber and Swindle, 2006).
