The ethics of research involving animals - Nuffield Council on ...
The ethics of research involving animals - Nuffield Council on ...
The ethics of research involving animals - Nuffield Council on ...
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T h e e t h i c s o f r e s e a r c h i n v o l v i n g a n i m a l s<br />
Box 4.1: C<strong>on</strong>cepts relating to the assessment<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> welfare <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>animals</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
In discussing problems that arise when assessing the<br />
welfare <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>animals</str<strong>on</strong>g>, we use the following terms, unless<br />
indicated otherwise:<br />
■ Nocicepti<strong>on</strong>: <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> registrati<strong>on</strong>, transmissi<strong>on</strong> and<br />
processing <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> harmful stimuli by the nervous system.*<br />
■ Pain: ‘An unpleasant sensory and emoti<strong>on</strong>al experience<br />
associated with actual or potential tissue damage’.†<br />
■ Suffering: ‘A negative emoti<strong>on</strong>al state which derives<br />
from adverse physical, physiological and psychological<br />
circumstances, in accordance with the cognitive<br />
capacity <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the species and <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the individual being,<br />
and its life’s experience.’‡<br />
■ Distress: Severe pain, sorrow or anguish.∫<br />
■ ‘Pain, suffering, distress and lasting harm’ in the<br />
Guidance <strong>on</strong> the Operati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the A(SP)A: ‘encompass<br />
any material disturbance to normal health (defined as<br />
the physical, mental and social well-being <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
animal). <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g>y include disease, injury and physiological<br />
or psychological discomfort, whether immediately (such<br />
as at the time <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> an injecti<strong>on</strong>) or in the l<strong>on</strong>ger term (such<br />
as the c<strong>on</strong>sequences <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the applicati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a carcinogen).<br />
Regulated procedures may be acts <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> commissi<strong>on</strong> (such<br />
as dosing or sampling) or <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> deliberate omissi<strong>on</strong> (such as<br />
withholding food or water).’<br />
■ Sentient: ‘Having the power <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> percepti<strong>on</strong> by the<br />
senses’.** Usually taken to mean ‘being c<strong>on</strong>scious’.<br />
■ Welfare/well-being: <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g>se terms do not have sharp<br />
boundaries. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> following statements are indicative<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the ways in which they are comm<strong>on</strong>ly used:<br />
- Animals experience both positive and negative<br />
well-being. In assessing welfare, it is important to<br />
examine the animal’s physiological and<br />
psychological well-being in relati<strong>on</strong> to its cognitive<br />
capacity and its life experience.<br />
- Welfare is an animal’s perspective <strong>on</strong> the net balance<br />
between positive (reward, satisfacti<strong>on</strong>) and negative<br />
(acute stress) experiences <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> affective states.††<br />
- <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> welfare <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> any animal is dependent <strong>on</strong> the<br />
overall combinati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> various factors which<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tribute to both its physical and mental state. ‡‡<br />
- Welfare is the state <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> well-being brought about by<br />
meeting the physical, envir<strong>on</strong>mental, nutriti<strong>on</strong>al,<br />
behavioural and social needs <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the animal or<br />
groups <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>animals</str<strong>on</strong>g> under the care, supervisi<strong>on</strong> or<br />
influence <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> individuals.∫∫<br />
* College <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Edinburgh Guidelines for the recogniti<strong>on</strong> and<br />
assessment <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> animal pain, available at:<br />
http://www.vet.ed.ac.uk/animalpain/Pages/glossary.htm.<br />
Accessed <strong>on</strong>: 11 Apr 2005.<br />
† Internati<strong>on</strong>al Associati<strong>on</strong> for the Study <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Pain (1994)<br />
Pain Terminology available at: http://www.iasppain.org/terms-p.html#Pain.<br />
Accessed <strong>on</strong>: 11 Apr 2005.<br />
‡ Mort<strong>on</strong> DB and Hau J (2002) Welfare assessment and<br />
humane endpoints, in Handbook <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Laboratory Animal<br />
Science: Essential principles and practices, Vol I, 2nd<br />
Editi<strong>on</strong>, Hau J and Van Hoosier GL (Editors) (Seattle, WA:<br />
CRC Press), Chapter 18, pp457–86.<br />
∫<br />
J Pearsall and B Trumble (Editors) (2003) Oxford English<br />
Reference Dicti<strong>on</strong>ary 2nd Editi<strong>on</strong> (Oxford: Oxford<br />
University Press).<br />
** J Pearsall and B Trumble (Editors) (2003) Oxford English<br />
Reference Dicti<strong>on</strong>ary 2nd Editi<strong>on</strong> (Oxford: Oxford<br />
University Press).<br />
†† Ethology & Welfare Centre, Faculty <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Veterinary<br />
Medicine, Utrecht University (2004) What we think,<br />
available at: http://www.icwd.nl/think.html. Accessed <strong>on</strong>:<br />
11 Apr 2005.<br />
‡‡ Department for the Envir<strong>on</strong>ment, Food and Rural Affairs<br />
(2004) Animal Health and Welfare Strategy for Great<br />
Britain (L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong>: DEFRA), p16.<br />
∫∫<br />
Appleby MC and Hughes BO (Editors) (1997) Animal<br />
Welfare (Wallingford: CABI Publishing).<br />
Philosophical problems with regard to assessing the welfare <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>animals</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
4.3 Some people think that it is straightforward to interpret the dispositi<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> specific <str<strong>on</strong>g>animals</str<strong>on</strong>g>,<br />
as it <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>ten appears possible to ‘read their minds’. It may seem especially easy in the case <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
primates such as the great apes, as they look most similar to humans. For example, some<br />
ethologists, who have studied the behaviour <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>animals</str<strong>on</strong>g> in their natural habitat, argue that<br />
threat postures can be understood as mixtures <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the human emoti<strong>on</strong>s <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> fear and<br />
aggressi<strong>on</strong>. Being familiar with these states, they take the view that it is possible to make<br />
accurate predicti<strong>on</strong>s from the postures about whether the <str<strong>on</strong>g>animals</str<strong>on</strong>g> are likely to escape or<br />
attack. 1 Another approach would be to draw <strong>on</strong> the human capacity for empathy, which we<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>ten use successfully when we judge dispositi<strong>on</strong>s or moods <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> other humans in specific<br />
situati<strong>on</strong>s. Since we would feel pain <strong>on</strong> being exposed to boiling water and would rapidly<br />
retract an exposed body part, it could seem reas<strong>on</strong>able to assume that an animal that shows<br />
a similar reacti<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> being exposed to boiling water would feel a similar kind <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> pain.<br />
Furthermore, many people believe that they ‘understand’ <str<strong>on</strong>g>animals</str<strong>on</strong>g> with which they have<br />
relatively close interacti<strong>on</strong>s in their everyday life, such as dogs or cats. By using familiarity,<br />
1 Bates<strong>on</strong> P (1991) Assessment <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> pain in <str<strong>on</strong>g>animals</str<strong>on</strong>g>, Anim Behav 42: 827–39.<br />
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