SLOVENIAN VETERINARY RESEARCH

60 P. Hudlermal Protection Act - official consolidated text (slo.,Zakon o zaščiti živali, ZZZiv) (24). The legal foundationsfor animal rights were introduced in 1993 withthe Environmental Act (slo., Zakon o varstvu okolja)and since then it has been improved and reconciliatedwith EU legislation (25, Ur.l. RS, št. 3972006,04.04.2006). ZZZiv is part of this important EnvironmentalAct, which regulates basic principles ofprotecting the nature, responsibility of humans foranimal protection and welfare, defines the rules ofproper animal care and lays down the directions forfuture amendments and extension acts. Moreover,several other international conventions bound Sloveniain the case of parliament ratifications, amongthem are Ramsar, Bonn, Bern and Washington convention,Conventions about biological diversity andprotection of migratory animals, European conventionfor the protection of animals kept for farmingpurposes, etc. (http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/welfare/references_en.htm).The field of animal welfare is constantly evolvingand through research, promotion of dialogueand general awareness of people that animals arenot things or our property, but equal inhabitantsof planet Earth and irreplaceable link in nature’sequilibrium European commission is trying to establishthe principle of humane treatment for allanimals and how it should be applied in differentfields of animal use (26, 32). More and more countriesare adopting this point of view, which regardsanimals as independent beings and surpasses theestablished comprehension of animals as objects,originating from Roman times (6). It is commendatorythat Slovenian Animal Protection Act regardsanimals in this way and thus we granted themstatus sui generis (Latin expression indicating anidea, an entity or a reality that cannot be includedin a wider concept; independent entity) (Ur.l. RS, št.3972006, 04.04.2006).Conclusion: pro et contraCurrently, research involving laboratory animalsis absolutely essential for maintaining humanhealth and for the development of new treatments(2, 26, 33-35). Nevertheless, the emergenceof sophisticated technologies in molecular and cellbiology has enabled the development of reliable invitro tests which could replace animal experiments(5, 6). Some scientists argue that these models lacka few critical points of multicellular systems, suchas microenvironment, cooperation of all organs inthe body and responses to different environmentalstimuli. Next, the inability to study integratedgrowth processes, biochemical and metabolic pathwaysand loss of original phenotype in immortalizedcell cultures, even more restrict their usage (6). Onthe other hand, opposing parties state argumentsagainst animal use, such as: moral and ethical issuesconcerning the animal rights, physiological,genetic and epigenetic differences between animalsand humans, which confer false positive or falsenegative results (6, 16).But for now, because the use of animals in researchis by law still justifiable, minimizing unnecessarysuffering and use of animals in laboratoriesvia the implementation of the three Rs (replacement,reduction, and refinement) are the most importantgoals researchers tend to achieve (2). Replacementrefers to using sophisticated in vitro technologieswhen possible, reduction refers to minimizing thenumber of animals used for research and testing,when this is scientifically appropriate and valid, andlastly, refinement stands for optimizing the existingexperimental protocols in a way that animals aresubjected to less pain and distress (5, 6). Debate onthese moral and ethical questions regarding animaluse in research is bound to continue, but most, ifnot all, parties agree that promoting and implementationof the three Rs is desirable, when scientistsmust use animals for research (6). For now, humanpopulation must accept that in vitro methods acttogether with in vivo (whole-animal and clinical (human))studies to advance science, develop products,drugs, treat, cure and prevent disease. However, theuse of animals must be regulated by the strictestmoral and ethical standards, and when scientificallypossible, their use should give way to in vitromethodologies.References1. Shultz LD, Ishikawa F, Greiner DL. Humanized micein translational biomedical research. Nat Rev Immunol2007; 7(2): 118-30.2. Russell WMS, Burch RL. The principles of humaneexperimental technique. London: Methuen, 1959: 238 str3. Festing MF. Is the use of animals in biomedicalresearch still necessary in 2002? Unfortunately, „yes“.Altern Lab Anim 2004; 32(Suppl 1): 733-9.4. Rand MS. Selection of animal models. 2004. : http://www.uac.arizona.edu/notes/classes/animalmodels/animalmodels04.html.