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1
Introduction
Animal exper~rnentation has been a part of biomedical and be-
havioral research for several rn~lennia; experunents with animals
were conducted in Greece over 2,0~)0 years ago. Many advances in
medicine and in the understanding of how organism function have
been the direct result of animal experimentation.
Concern over the welfare of laboratory animals is also not new,
as reflected in the activities of various animal welfare and antivivisec-
tionist groups dating back to the nineteenth century. This concern
has led to laws and regulations governing the use of animals in re-
search and to various guides ant] statements of principle designed to
ensure humane treatment and use of laboratory animals.
HISTORICAL BAC1[GROUND
Use of Animals m Research
Some of the earliest recorded studies involving animals were
performed by Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), who revealed anatomical
differences among animate by dissecting them (Rowan, 1984~. The
Greek physician Galen (A.D. 12~199) maintained that experimen-
tation led to scientific progress and ~ said to have been the first to
conduct demonstrations with live animals~pecifically pigs—a prac-
tice later extended to other species and termed vivisection (Loew,
12
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INTROD UCTION
13
1982~. However, it was not until the sixteenth century that many
exper~rnents on animals began to be recorded. In 1628, William Har-
vey published his work on the heart and the movement of blood in
animals (French, 1975~. In the 1800s, when France became one of
the leading centers of experunental biology and medicine marked
by the work of such scientists as Frangois Magendie in experimental
physiology, Claude Bernard in experimental medicine, and Louis Pas-
teur in microbiology and immunology investigators regularly used
animals In biomedical research (McGrew, 1985~.
Research in biology progressed at ~ increasing pace starting
around 1850, with many of the advances resulting from exper~rnents
involving animals. Helmholtz studied the physical and chemical ac-
tivities associated with the nerve impulse; V~rchow developed the
science of cellular pathology, which led the way to a more rational
understanding of disease processes; Pasteur began the studies that
led to immunization for anthrax and inoculation for rabies; and Koch
started a long series of studies that would firmly establish the germ
theory of disease. Lister performed the first antiseptic surgery in
1878, and Metchnikoff discovered the antibacterial activities of white
blood cells in 1884. The first hormone was extracted in 1902. Ehrlich
developed a chemical treatment for syphilis in 1909, and laboratory
tissue culture began in 1910. By 1912, nutritional deficiencies were
sufficiently weD understood to allow scientists to coin the word ~vi-
tamin.~ ~ 1920, Banting and Best isolated insulin, which led to
therapy for diabetes mellitus. After 1920, the results of science-
based biological research and their medical applications follower] so
rapidly and in such numbers that they cannot be catalogued here.
Concerns ogres Anew Use
The first widespread opposition to the use of animals in research
was expressed in the nineteenth century. Even before this, however,
concern had arisen about the treatment of farm animals. The first
piece of legislation to forbid cruelty to animals was adopted by the
General Court of Massachusetts in 1641 and stated that "No man
shall exercise any tyranny or cruelty towards any brute creatures
which are usually kept for man's user (Stone, 1977~. ~ England,
Martin's Act was enacted in 1822 to provide protection for farm an-
imals. ~ 1824, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
(SPCA) was founded to ensure that this act was observed. In 1865,
Henry Bergh brought the SPCA idea to America (Turner, 1980~.
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14
USE OF LABORATORY ANIAf4LS
He was motivated not by the use of animals in research but by the
l-~Le"LllI=llL of norses gnat ne oDservea m czarist Russia.
In the second] half of the nineteenth century, concerns for the
welfare of farm animals expanded to include animals used in scientific
research. The antivivisectionist movement In England, which sought
to abolish the use of animals in research, became engaged in larger
scale public agitation in 1870, coincident with the development of
experimental physiology and the rapid growth of biomedical research.
In 1876, a royal commission appointed to investigate vivisection
issued a report that led to enactment of the Cruelty to Animab Act.
The act did not abolish all anneal experimentation, ~ desired by
the antivivisection movement. Rather, it required experimenters to
be licensed by the government for ~~rimPnt.c t.h:3t. "r~r"~+r`~^A +
cause pain in vertebrates.
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As animal experunentation increased in the United States in the
second half of the nineteenth century, animal sympathizers in this
country also became alarmed. The first American antivivisectionist
society was founded in Philadelphia in 1883, followed by the forma-
tion of similar societies in New York in 1892 and Boston in 1895. Like
their predecessors in England, these groups sought to abolish the use
of animals in biomedical research, but they were far led prominent
or influential than the major animal-protection societies, such as
the American SPCA, the Massachusetts SPCA, and the American
Humane Association (Turner, 1980~.
Unsuccessful in its efforts toward! the end of the nineteenth cen-
tury to abolish the use of laboratory animate (Cohen ~d Loew,
1984), the antivivisectionist movement decided In the early twenti-
eth century. However, the animal welfare movement remained active,
and in the 1950s and 1960s its increasing strength led to federal reg-
ulation of animal experimentation. The Animal Welfare Act was
passed In 1966 and amended in 1970, 1976, and 1985. Sirn~lar laws
have been enacted in other countries to regulate the treatment of
laboratory animals (Hampson, 1985~.
Concern over the welfare of animals used in research has made
itself felt in other ways. In 1963, the Animal Care Pane! drafted
a document that is now known as the Guide for the Care and Use
of Laboratory Animals (National Research Council, 1985a). As dis-
cussed in Chapter 5, the Guide is meant to assist institutions in
caring for and using laboratory animals in ways judged to be pros
fessionally and humanely appropriate. Many professional societies
and public and private research institutions have also issued guide-
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INTRODUCTION
15
lines ant! statements on the humane use of animals; for example, the
American Physiological Society, the Society for Neuroscience, and
the American Psychological Association.
PRESENT SITUATION
Despite the long history of concern with animal welfare, the
treatment and use of experimental animate remain controversial. In
recent years a great expansion of biomedical and behavioral research
has occurred. Sunultaneously, there has been increased expression of
concern over the use of animals in research. Wide publicity of several
cases involving the neglect and misuse of exper~rnental anunals has
sensitized people to the treatment of laboratory animals. Societal
attitudes have also changed, as a spirit of general social concern
and a strong belief that humans have sometunes been insensitive to
the protection of the environment have contributed to an outlook in
which the use of animate is a subject of concern.
Of course, any mclifference to the suffering of animals properly
gives rme to legitunate objections. From time to tune some few mem-
bers of the scientific community have been found to mistreat or inad-
equately care for research animals. Such actions are not acceptable.
Maltreatment ~d improper care of animals used in research cannot
be tolerated by the scientific establishment. Individuals responsible
for such behavior must be subject to censure by their peers. Out of
this concern that abuse be prevented, organizations have emerged
to monitor how laboratory animals are being treated, and govern-
ment agencies and private organizations have adopted regulations
governing anunal cane and use.
Discussions about laboratory animal use have also been influ-
enced In recent years by the emergence of groups committed to a
concept termed "animal rights. Some of these groups oppose all use
of animals for human benefit and any experimentation that is not
intended primarily for the benefit of the individual animals involved.
Their view recognizes more than the traditional interdependent con-
nections between humans and animals: It reflects a belief that an-
im~s, like humans, have "inherent rights" (Regan, 1983; Singer,
19753.
Their use of the term "rights in connection with animals departs
from its customary usage or common meaning. In Western history
and culture, frights refers to legal and moral relationships among
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~6
USE OF LABORATORY ANIMALS
the members of a community of humans; it has not been applied to
other entities (Cohen, 1986~. Our society does, however, acknowlecige
that living things have inherent value. In practice, that value imposes
an ethical obligation on scientists to minimize pain and distress in
laboratory animate.
Our society ~ influenced by two major strands of thought: the
Jude>Christian heritage and the humanistic tradition rooted in
Greek philosophy. The dominance of humans is accepted in both
traclitions. The Jude - Christian notion of dominance ~ reflected in
the passage in the Bible that states (Genesis I:26~:
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and
let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of
the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
However, the Jude - Christian heritage also insists that dominance
be attended by responsibility. Power used appropriately must be
used with the morality of caring. The uniqueness of humans, most
philosophers agree, lies in our ability to make moral choices. We
have the option to decide to dominate anneals, but we also have a
mandate to make choices responsibly to comply with the obligations
of stewardship.
From tradition and practice it ~ clear that society accepts the
idea of a hierarchy of species in its attitudes toward and its regulation
of the relationships between humans and the other animal species.
For example, animals as different as nonhuman primates, dogs, and
cats are given special consideration as being ~closer" to humans ~d
are treated differently from rodents, reptiles, and rabbits.
Most individuals would agree that not aD species of animals are
equal and would reject the contention of animal rights advocates
who argue that it is "speciesism" to convey special status to humans.
Clearly, humans are different, in that humans are the only species
able to make moral judgments, engage in reflective thought, and
communicate these thoughts. Because of this special status, humans
have felt justified to use annals for food and fiber, for personal
use, and in experimentation. As indicated earlier, however, these
uses of animals by humane carry with them the responsibility for
stewardship of the animals
Several recent surveys have examined public opinion about the
use of laboratory animals in scientific experimentation (Doyle Dane
Bernbach, 1983; Media General, 1985; Research Strategies Corp.,
1985~. Most of the people interviewed want to see medical research
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INTRODUCTION
17
continued, even at the expense of animate' lives. Beyond that, pew
pie's thoughts about animal use depend on the particular species
used and/or on the research problem being addressed. Almost all
people support the experimental use of rodents. Support for the use
of dogs, cats, and monkeys is less, and people clearly would prefer
that rodents be used instead. Most people polled believe that animals
used in research are treated humanely.
The next two chapters examine the ways in which animals are
used ~ the United States and the benefits that have been derived
from the use of experunental animate. After a discussion of alter-
native methods in the use of laboratory anunab (Chapter 4), the
report discuses the regulatory issues surrounding animal use (Chaps
ter 5) and the use of animals from pounds add shelters (Chapter 6~.
Chapter 7 contains the committee's recommendations.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
experimental physiology
