THE USE OF ANIMALS IN RESEARCH

The Use of Animals in Research



The Use of Animals in Research

The use of animals in research, teaching and testing is an important ethical and political issue. Much of the discussion about this issue revolves around the relative value, often referred to as 'moral value', of humans and animals. When the needs of animals and humans come into conflict, which takes precedence? Today there exists a wide spectrum of views on this subject, ranging from those concerned with animal 'rights' to those who view animals only as a resource to be exploited. All of these viewpoints have contributed to the development of ethical principles of animal use. These in turn have shaped animal use regulations promulgated by the USDA and the PHS, and echoed by organizations such as AAALAC, AALAS and the AVMA. These regulations embody principles summarized in statements by the Public Health Service Policy and by NASA. These issues are discussed below.

From the dawn of time, when the first human killed an animal for food, or drove it from a berry patch so that he could eat instead, there has been competition with animals for basic resources. Likewise, over the ages, humans have contemplated their relationship with animals. Ancestral societies worshipped the animals they used, recognizing that the lives they took fueled their own lives. As societies became more agrarian, reverence for wild animals waned, and thanks and worship were given instead to the crops and the sun and the livestock that sustained these early humans. Further introspection on humanity's place in the world resulted in the development of codes of morality and ethics and subsequently the first modern religions. While biblical views of animals are primarily those of utility rather than of moral value, early scholars argued that animals should be treated kindly because animal cruelty represented a flawed morality and was ultimately detrimental to the moral development of humans. This view that humans may ultimately be judged based on their treatment of other lives exists to this day, and for many, is a strong argument for stewardship toward animals.

The early Greek philosophers valued reason above all else, and ascribed little moral value to animals and even to other humans that did not possess this attribute. While this viewpoint might be viewed as extreme, from a biological perspective this might be seen as competition. Using the survival advantage given to us by our capacity for reason is no less moral or ethical than another animal using its adaptations to survive. However, it should be obvious that by allowing unrestricted human exploitation of animals, there is great potential for extirpation of species. Thus, we utilize animals for food and clothing; we keep them as pets or as livestock; we plant our crops, harvest wild plant products, and build our cities and highways where animals might otherwise have lived, but we do so with restrictions on our activities, if only to conserve our resources.

Interestingly, advances in biology that began in the 1800's have ...