Nowadays, animals are widely used in many areas. Some people think it will be unnecessary to use them in the near future. I disagree with this idea to a certain extent. While it is true that animal products can be replaced by artificial products in the clothing industry, humans will still need animals for food and medical research.
Admittedly, due to technology advances, animal products are not as essential to the survival of human beings nowadays as to our ancestors such as cave men in the Stone Age. Many types of alternative foods were invented which taste like meat but are made of soybeans. People who consume these meat substitution meals can remain vegetarians and still get all the nutrients they need. In the fashion industry, there is also a growing tendency amongst designers and manufactures to refrain from using animal furs and resort to synthetic substitutes only as these two products are nearly identical in all measures. There is no denying that people are becoming less reliant on animal products in their lives.
Even so, it is not to say that human can cut animals out of their lives altogether. For example, fish and meat are integral parts of many cuisines around the world. And in many places, they remain major sources of vitamins, minerals and proteins to locals as meat substitutes are either expensive or not readily available in supermarkets. Moreover, plant-based products may sufficiently nourish an average person, but to those who have physically demanding jobs like labourers and athletes, relying solely on plant diet may result in malnutrition. More importantly, animal tests are still proved to be irreplaceable in pharmaceutical industry and medical research, as many drugs and procedures are deemed way too risky to use directly on human beings without successful prior clinical tests on animals. Whilst I feel truly dismay to the misfortune of those Guinea Pigs perished in laboratories, it is a necessary evil and I do not think it will change in the near future.
In summary, we need to respect animals’ right to live and limit their use for the mere purpose of vanity; however we cannot avoid using them for meeting nutritional requirements or performing medical research.