The Role of an Academic Center in Promoting Common Goals

Abstract

The publication in 1959 of Russell and Burch's The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique initiated a new era in the history of the debate between science and animal protection, the era of alternatives. Although Russell and Burch never used the word “alternatives” (speaking instead of the “three Rs”: replacement, reduction, and refinement), and although the animal protection movement was somewhat moribund at the time in both England and the United States, within a decade of the book's publication a number of signs indicating a resurgence of public interest in the issue began to appear. At the same time, increased knowledge and understanding of neurophysiology and ethology heightened scientific awareness of the significance of humane treatment in the laboratory and professionalized laboratory animal science.