Animals used in research

Extract

Many of the improvements in the welfare of laboratory animals over the last 10 or so years have come about through the application of the principles of the 3 Rs: replacement, reduction and refinement, originally put forward in 1959 by Russell and Burch. More recently the term alternatives is being used to mean, in a precise sense, replacement and less precisely all three of the Rs. Application of these principles has resulted in a decrease in the number of animals used and a lessening of the amount of suffering. These developments have been welcomed by the scientific community and the legislators as well as by animal welfarists.