Instigator / Pro
27
1490
rating
7
debates
42.86%
won
Topic
#1835

It is Impossible to Ban Experimenting on/of Animals

Status
Finished

The debate is finished. The distribution of the voting points and the winner are presented below.

Winner & statistics
Better arguments
12
0
Better sources
8
2
Better legibility
4
4
Better conduct
3
1

After 4 votes and with 20 points ahead, the winner is...

DrSpy
Parameters
Publication date
Last updated date
Type
Standard
Number of rounds
3
Time for argument
Two days
Max argument characters
10,000
Voting period
Two weeks
Point system
Multiple criterions
Voting system
Open
Contender / Con
7
1702
rating
574
debates
67.86%
won
Description

We shall assume that society wants to progress, meaning things such as, but not limited to a reduction in poverty, reduction of illness, reduction in effects of climate change.

Experiment: A course of action tentatively adopted without being sure of the eventual outcome.

Please use comments for clarification.

Round 1
Pro
#1
I shall demonstrate that animal experimentation is essential to progress as a society.

Some housekeeping definitions:

Animal, a living organism that feeds on organic matter, typically having specialized sense organs and nervous system and able to respond rapidly to stimuli. 

Progress:  and Experiment definitions are as set forth in the topic description.

========

While this debate could theoretically be very long, I will attempt to focus on one particular area.  Food.

There are six significant challenges in feeding the world, two of them are population growth and climate change.  (https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/feeding-the-developing-world-six-major-challenges/)

The two issues are correlated, as demonstrated in the above reference.
 
“A further wild card is that both insects and crop diseases are likely to flourish with warmer temperatures.”

In order to maximize the production of crops, required to feed an ever-growing population, pest management and control is essential.  

Pest management is accomplished through a number of techniques.    Integrated Pest Management or Integrated Pest Control is defined by the United Nations as:

the careful consideration of all available pest control techniques and subsequent integration of appropriate measures that discourage the development of pest populations and keep pesticides and other interventions to levels that are economically justified and reduce or minimize risks to human health and the environment. IPM emphasizes the growth of a healthy crop with the least possible disruption to agro-ecosystems and encourages natural pest control mechanisms.”

(http://www.fao.org/agriculture/crops/core-themes/theme/pests/ipm/en/)

In 1979  US President Carter put an interagency committee together to ensure the development and implementation of IP practices.  http://www.biconet.com/reference/IPMhistory.html  According to the US Environmental Protection Agency there are 6 basic components of IPM. (https://www.epa.gov/safepestcontrol)

  1. Acceptable Pest Levels
  2. Preventive Cultural Practices
  3. Monitoring
  4. Mechanical Controls
  5. Biological Controls
  6. Responsible Use.

The basic principle of IPM is to understand what the acceptable pest level is, and then implement mechanical, biological controls and then responsible use of synthetics to maintain those levels.

IPM is an iterative decision-making process based on the feedback of the different components.  (https://www.mae.gov.nl.ca/env_protection/pesticides/business/manuals/applic_chapter7.pdf)

Different combinations of mechanical, biological, and synthetic controls are tried to achieve the desired pest level results.  The results are not known ahead of time. 

Feeding the growing population requires pest management. By definition pests are animals. By definition, IPM is an iterative, and experimental process.  Therefore the experimentation on animals is a fundamental necessity, and cannot be banned.

Con
#2
Forfeited
Round 2
Pro
#3
My opponent has not responded, so in addition to my previous statements, I want to address a comment made.


@K_Michael stated,

Your title claims that "It is impossible to ban experimenting on of animals"
But your argument is that "animal experimentation is essential to progress as a society."
These aren't even close to the same thing.


The narrative of the debate definition clearly mentions the progress of society as part of the debate.

Second, my argument clearly shows that even maintaining our current food levels would require experimentation on pests.  Therefore it is impossible to ban experimenting o animals, as a ban would effectively ban agriculture.
Con
#4
Forfeited
Round 3
Pro
#5
I hope my counterpart contributes something.  My position has not changed based on their silence.

Con
#6
I knew if you included humans in the definition of 'animals' that I'd lose this debate. You did that, so I lost. I thought you wouldn't.