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 />
3.73 <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> crucial questi<strong>on</strong> now is not how scientists <strong>on</strong>ce behaved, but rather how we could<br />
reas<strong>on</strong>ably expect them to behave if regulati<strong>on</strong>s were less rigorous. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> existence <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> any<br />
regulati<strong>on</strong> is justified in terms <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> reducing risks, and therefore we first have to c<strong>on</strong>sider what<br />
the c<strong>on</strong>sequences <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> n<strong>on</strong>-regulati<strong>on</strong>, or less-detailed regulati<strong>on</strong>, would be. 28 Accordingly,<br />
scientists who c<strong>on</strong>sider that they are sufficiently experienced to judge the needs <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> animal<br />
welfare in the planning and c<strong>on</strong>duct <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> their work might well argue that they now have<br />
acquired appropriate virtues. If this is correct, then the risk <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> making regulati<strong>on</strong>s less<br />
detailed would be small. Furthermore, c<strong>on</strong>siderati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> ethical aspects forms part <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
training <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> pers<strong>on</strong>al licence holders, 29 and is beginning to be included in college and<br />
university educati<strong>on</strong> in the life sciences. Some take the view that c<strong>on</strong>tinuing developments<br />
in this area might be c<strong>on</strong>sidered another good reas<strong>on</strong> for relaxing regulati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
3.74 Opp<strong>on</strong>ents, however, might argue that scientists have developed virtues to the degree that<br />
they have, primarily because <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the regulati<strong>on</strong>s. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g>y assert that a strict regulatory<br />
framework encourages scientists to be proactive in seeking out and implementing humane<br />
practices. In a less-regulated world, they might let such virtues wane, especially as a<br />
scientist’s priority is usually to make scientific progress, which may <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>ten, but need not<br />
necessarily always, coincide with ensuring the highest possible degree <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> animal welfare.<br />
3.75 In this respect, it might be instructive to compare comm<strong>on</strong> Western approaches to a particular<br />
n<strong>on</strong>-Western approach. Western practice usually focuses <strong>on</strong> beliefs and their c<strong>on</strong>sequences.<br />
An example <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a different approach is that practised by Australian Aborigines, for whom the<br />
emphasis is <strong>on</strong> people and their relati<strong>on</strong>ships. 30 In the Western c<strong>on</strong>text, causing pain or<br />
suffering to <str<strong>on</strong>g>animals</str<strong>on</strong>g> is recognised by some as an <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fence to reas<strong>on</strong> and is addressed by<br />
adopting a resoluti<strong>on</strong> to minimise harmful c<strong>on</strong>sequences, for example by applying<br />
Refinement, Reducti<strong>on</strong> and Replacements. In the Aboriginal approach, the subject <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> any<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fence is c<strong>on</strong>sidered to be another being, referred to as an ’I’ or ’thou’, and a ritual apology<br />
can sometimes be <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fered to an animal killed to provide food or clothing. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> object <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> this<br />
process is to inform the spirit <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the animal that the act has been d<strong>on</strong>e in order to survive.<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> apology is a quest to reweave a torn religious (literally binding) relati<strong>on</strong>ship.<br />
3.76 Clearly, for the UK c<strong>on</strong>text, the Western approach to the c<strong>on</strong>flict between human and<br />
animal interests is more practicable and therefore appears to be the more preferable. But<br />
whether the harm to <str<strong>on</strong>g>animals</str<strong>on</strong>g> can actually be reduced depends not <strong>on</strong>ly <strong>on</strong> the scientific and<br />
technological means available, but also <strong>on</strong> the willingness <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> humans to recognise that an<br />
animal has in some (not necessarily overtly religious) sense an ’I’ or ’thou’, or is a ‘subject <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
experience’, qualifying it as having moral status. This thought adds an important dimensi<strong>on</strong><br />
to the comm<strong>on</strong> Western approach and can c<strong>on</strong>tribute to the motivati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> identifying and<br />
applying the Three Rs. In terms <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the generally agreed need to minimise animal suffering,<br />
the classical Western and the n<strong>on</strong>-Western approaches might therefore be c<strong>on</strong>sidered as<br />
being morally complementary.<br />
28 Some regulati<strong>on</strong>s merely encode pre-existing good practice, such as the policy decisi<strong>on</strong> not to grant licences for <str<strong>on</strong>g>research</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>involving</str<strong>on</strong>g> the great apes, which was implemented some years after the practice had ceased in the UK.<br />
29 New applicants for pers<strong>on</strong>al licences are required to have successfully completed an accredited training programme<br />
comprising three or possibly four modules (with ‘very limited exempti<strong>on</strong>s’). <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> first module includes a secti<strong>on</strong> entitled An<br />
introducti<strong>on</strong> to ethical aspects <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the use <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>animals</str<strong>on</strong>g> in scientific procedures. New applicants for project licences are required<br />
to have successfully completed a further module which includes a secti<strong>on</strong> entitled Ethical aspects <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the use <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> live <str<strong>on</strong>g>animals</str<strong>on</strong>g>.<br />
See Home Office (1992) Educati<strong>on</strong> and training <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> pers<strong>on</strong>nel under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, available at:<br />
http://www.home<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fice.gov.uk/docs/training_statement1.html. Accessed <strong>on</strong>: 19 Apr 2005.<br />
30 Clearly it is not possible to generalise from this example to a general paradigm <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> ‘n<strong>on</strong>-Western practice’. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g>re is a wide<br />
spectrum <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> views, some <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> which are very close to what has been presented above as a ‘Western’ view. See, for example,<br />
Preece R (1999) Animals and Nature: Cultural Myths, Cultural Realities (Vancouver: University <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> British Columbia Press).<br />
56