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PubMed1986

Regulation of animal experimentation. The international experience: Switzerland.

The reviewer is head of a Central Animal Laboratory of a Medical Center, where about 140 researchers, chiefly M.D.'s work on 11 species: monkeys, dogs, cats, calves, pigs, sheep, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, mice and gerbils. In 1984 there were 120 licence projects with 32.000 experiments, 74% were carried out on mice, 24.6% on rats and the rest on the other species. Approximately two third of all animals were used for in vitro studies. Each researcher has to apply for a licence for a limited project by giving the title, a brief description of the method, his reasons for wanting to do the experiment and the value of the expected results, and the exact number of animals required. Details of the planned experiments are discussed with the staff of the Central Animal Laboratory. All information is filled in by the responsible researcher on a nation-wide standardized form. The completed form is signed by the head and forwarded by the secretariat to the Cantonal Veterinary Department. Four copies are submitted of which one goes to the Federal Veterinary Department. All applications for a licence are handled by the cantonal veterinary officer. The decisions are controlled by a Cantonal Commission for animal experiments, consisting of 8 members out of which 4 are animal protectionists. In addition the Department of Education has set up a bioethical commission consisting of 4 members of the university, one from the veterinary faculty, two from the medical faculty and one from the life sciences. This commission can also be called on by a researcher if he needs to clarify points before the application is submitted. The animal protection law requests the cantonal veterinary officer to make a thorough check of the project which often demands one or more letters asking for further information. He has to check whether an animal experiment is necessary at all, whether the experiment is properly designed, whether animals of lower order could be used and whether the demanded number of animals is needed. After a project has been completed or every year for a larger project, the number of animals used in the project has to be reported to the cantonal veterinarian who will prepare statistics on total number of animals used. A division of the experiments into in vivo and in vitro experiments will be prepared and categorization according to the estimated degree of stress and pain is being considered.

Animal Welfare↗
PubMed1986

Man's relation to experimental animals: modern times--the present situation in Switzerland.

The situation in Switzerland is characterized by a particularly violent antivivisectionist movement. A pending public vote on a constitutional amendment threatens to ban animal experiments totally. The scientific community has reacted by establishing binding Ethical Guide-Lines that should help the scientists to deal responsibly with the ethical conflict that follows from the principle of reverence for life: to reduce animal experiments and especially animal suffering as far as possible without denying man the fulfillment of his own claims to security.

Animal Testing Alternatives↗
PubMed1986

Ethical issues in animal experimentation--view of the animal rightist.

The basic stand-point of the animal rightist is that other animals than man are living beings also capable of feeling pain and distress, pleasure and joy. The capacity for suffering we have in common with other animals. This is quite obvious from the biological point of view and, in point of fact, a prerequisite for a lot of animal experimentation, the results of which would be invalid if the likeness was false. There would be no need for ethics of any kind, if man was not sentient. However, since sentience is a characteristic of other animals as well as man, logically the ethics applied to mankind must be extended to encompass all animals. For the animal rightist it is apparent that not only man, but other animals, too, must be attributed an intrinsic value. Consequently, using animals in procedures to which they would not consent, if they were able to speak for themselves, and which are carried out solely because of the means of power man possesses and the other animals lack, and are used to exploit those who are less powerful, is not good ethics. It is the dirty reality of oppression, based on prejudice, which is of the same brand as racism or sexism, but was given its own name, symptomatically, only 15 years ago, namely speciesism. Power is the key to animal experimentation, on the industrial, university, legislative and individual level. There is a growing public concern about animals being used in experiments, which must be taken into account by animal experimenters, regulation authorities and politicians alike. The question of animal rights is a political issue with wide-reaching implications for man and other animals, if animal experiments were reduced, replaced or totally abolished. The great number of animal experiments do not benefit mankind, only various groups of people, who for different reasons have an interest in experiments on animals being carried out. Would there be a bigger benefit to society as a whole, including man, other animals and nature--thus adopting an ecological view of the world--if experiments on animals were to cease? It is a fallacy to believe that the gains for medical treatment of people (or other animals) have been so great that it would in any way support the common argument from animal experimenters about the "necessity" of animal experimentation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animal Testing Alternatives↗
PubMed1986

Animal experimentation ethics from an experimenter's point of view.

The experimental biologist faces two kinds of ethical problems: practical and philosophical. The practical problems comprise increased costs of experimental animals, and the risk of being harassed or even raided by animal activists. There is also today a growing bureaucratic ethics overhead that has to be paid for, one way or another. The philosophical problems are the true ethical problems. Most laws and regulations emphasize that pain and agony should be minimized, but it is shown that this is neither always necessary nor always adequate. Scientists expect logical reasoning and opinions based on facts, but it is easy to find examples that the public opinion is quite illogical concerning pain and agony. For instance, you may under certain circumstances very well torture and kill animals just for pleasure. Our present legislation should be amended so as to concur better with current public views on how animals should be treated. The Swedish Committees on Animal Experimentation Ethics were intended to help scientists understand the demands of the public opinion. It is doubtful if they have been successful. The ethics of animal experimentation are perforce centered on the experimenter. He alone, at the final moment, makes the decision whether or not to use and, eventually, to kill the animal. When he kills, he obviously has a reason for doing so, and has decided that the purpose justifies the action. With the very large increase in the number of animal experiments in the last few decades, society has justifiably become increasingly concerned about the ethical considerations involved.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animal Testing Alternatives↗
PubMed1986

[Animal experiments].

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Animal Testing Alternatives↗
PubMed1985

Laboratory animal medicine. Changes and challenges.

Less than three decades have elapsed since the specialty of laboratory animal medicine was first formally recognized. Tremendous progress and maturation has occurred in this short time frame due in large part to the foresight of early pioneers in the field, attention to the moral and ethical use of animals, and the recognition by the biomedical research community of the indispensable role played by the laboratory animal medicine specialist in forging new knowledge in the biomedical sciences. The ability of laboratory animal medicine specialists to properly balance their efforts in collaborative and independent research, clinical services and teaching, offers exciting challenges and opportunities for veterinarians entering the specialty. Undoubtedly, another challenge to the specialty, currently and in the foreseeable future, is the debate over animal rights which began to ferment in the late 1970's, after lying relatively dorment since the 1950's. A growing number of Americans, including some scientists, contend that animals have inherent rights to a full life, free of intentional pain, even when done in legitimate scientific pursuits; some ardent anti-vivisectionists state that the use of animals in experimental research is immoral. The laboratory animal medicine specialist will have to effectively deal with the administrators of institutions using research animals, the attendant federal and state guidelines and laws regulating their use, and defend the use of laboratory animals to a polarized public, while at the same time ensure the humane care and use of animals under their purview. Certainly, the specialty is squarely placed in a hotly debated dilemma, fraught with ethical, moral, medical, philosophical, religious, and political complexities. I believe the specialty has the vision and maturity, and is indeed ready, to successfully meet that challenge - to assuage public concern, implement new federal policy regarding animal care and use, and maintain the excellent progress in laboratory animal medicine realized in the last 75 years.

Animals↗