Abstract
Laws designed to control the practice of experimentation on living animals have a central purpose: ‘to reconcile the needs of science with the just claims of humanity’. This purpose was outlined by the UK Royal Commission on the Practice of Subjecting Live Animals to Experiments, the first enquiry of its kind, which led to the earliest law in the world controlling the practice, the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876. Since that time, legislation to control animal experiments has been enacted in many countries throughout the Western world. But a century of heated debate on this thorny topic has resulted only in changes to the details of such laws and to their administration, not to their fundamental purpose and scope. This remains everywhere the same as that of the UK 1876 Act—to restrict experimentation within what society deems to be acceptable limits while causing least harm to free scientific enquiry.
‘There is a notable reluctance among (British) scientists to discuss the moral implications of animal experimentation, possibly because, by and large, they are uncomfortable in the area of philosophical (especially ethical) debate. As long as their work is within the law, what research scientists do is very much their own responsibility and perhaps ethical issues are a matter for individual conscience, rather than open debate. The growing interest and concern of a broad section of the rational general public renders this position untenable today.’
David Britt (1984). Nature, 311, 503
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act (1986), Eliz. II, c 14, HMSO, London
Association of Veterinary Teachers and Research Workers (1986). Guidelines for the recognition and assessment of pain in animals, Vet. Rec., 118, 334–8
AWI (Animal Welfare Institute) (1985). Beyond the Laboratory Door, Animal Welfare Institute, Washington, DC
Beynen, A. C., Baumans, V., Bertens, A. P. M., Havenaar, R., Hesp, A. P. M. and van Zutphen, L. F. M. (1987a). Assessment of discomfort in gallstone-bearing mice: a practical example of the problems encountered in an attempt to recognise discomfort in laboratory animals, Lab. Anim., 21, 35–42
Beynen, A. C., Baumans, V., Haas, J. W. M., van Hellemond, K. K., Stafleu, F. R. and van Tintelen, G. (1987b). Assessment of discomfort by orbital puncture in rats. In Beynen, A. C. and Solleveld, M. A. (eds), New Developments in Biosciences: Their Implications for Laboratory Animal Science, Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, pp. 431–6
CIOMS (Council for International Organisations of Medical Sciences) (1985). International Guiding Principles for Biomedical Research Involving Animals, CIOMS, Geneva
Clark, S. (1977). The Moral Status of Animals, Clarendon, Oxford
Council of Europe Committee ad hoc Protection des Animaux (1985). European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals Used for Experimental and Scientific Purposes, Council of Europe, Strasbourg
Council of the European Communities (1986). Council Directive on the Approximation of Laws, Regulations and Administrative Provisions of the Member States Regarding the Protection of Animals Used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes, Official Journal of the European Economic Communities, Series L, no. 358, pp. 1–28
Dresser, R. (1986). Research on animals: values, politics and regulatory reform, S. Carolina Law Rev., 58, 1147–201
FRAME/CRAE (Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments and the Committee for the Reform of Animal Experimentation) (1987). The Use of Non-Human Primates as Laboratory Animals in Great Britain, FRAME/CRAE, Nottingham
Hampson, J. E. (1987a). In Tuffery, A. A. (ed.), Laboratory Animals: An Introduction for New Experimenters, John Wiley, Chichester, pp. 21–52
Hampson, J. E. (1987b). In Rupke, N. A. (ed.), Vivisection in Historical Perspective, Croom Helm, London, pp. 314–39
Hansard (1986). House of Commons Reports, Vol. 96, no. 97, col. 98, 12 April Home Office (1986). Home Office Guidance on the Operation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, London
Midgley, M. (1983). Animals and Why They Matter, Penguin, Harmondsworth
Morton, D. B. and Griffiths, P. H. M. (1985). Guidelines on the recognition of pain, distress and discomfort in experimental animals, Vet. Rec., 116, 431–6
NIH (National Institutes of Health) (1985a). NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, US Department of Health and Human Services, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC
NIH (1985b). Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, US Department of Health and Human Services, NIH, Bethesda, MD
Office of Technology Assessment (1986). Alternatives to Animal Use in Research Testing and Education, US Congress Office of Technology Assessment, Washington, DC
Regan, T. (1983). The Case for Animal Rights, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London
Rollin, B. (1981). Animal Rights and Human Morality, Prometheus Books, New York
Rowsell, H. (1987). In Orlans, F. B., Simmonds, R. C. and Dodds, W. J. (eds), Effective Animal Care and Use Committees, Lab. Anim. Sci., special issue, 24–7
SCAW (Scientists’ Center for Animal Welfare) (1986). Consensus recommendations on effective institutional animal care and use committees. In Orlans, F. B., Simmonds, R. C. and Dodds, W. J. (eds), Effective Animal Care and Use Committees, Lab. Anim. Sci., special issue, 11–13
Singer, P. (1975). Animal Liberation: A New Ethics for Our Treatment of Animals, Avon Books, New York
Singer, P. (1985). In Defence of Animals, Basil Blackwell, Oxford
Solomon, M. and Lovenheim, P. C. (1982). Reporting requirements under the Animal Welfare Act: their inadequacies and the public’s right to know, Int. J. Study Anim. Prob., 3, 210–18
Stevens, C. (1978). In Leavitt, E. S. (ed.), Animals and Their Legal Rights, Animal Welfare Institute, Washington, DC, pp. 46–58
USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (1987). Animal welfare: proposed rules, Fed. Register, 52, no. 61, 31 March
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1989 Judith Hampson
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hampson, J. (1989). Legislation and the Changing Consensus. In: Langley, G. (eds) Animal Experimentation. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-20376-5_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-20376-5_10
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-45383-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-20376-5
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)