Methods and Practices of Animal Experimentation

Abstract

Some people argue that it can never be legitimate to experiment on animals, but that is not my view. While I reject the view that the lives of animals have no value, I do unapologetically ascribe a greater value to the lives of humans than to those of animals. While many animal experiments may be cruel, unnecessary and undesirable, well-conducted relevant animal experiments which contribute to a significant reduction in human suffering (or even a reduction in the probability of human suffering) provide the lesser of a set of evils, and may therefore be ethically legitimate. The central issue, however, which this essay will address concerns the extent to which information about animals obtained from experiments can usefully be extended to apply to humans. If animals are poor models for humans, then many experiments are wasteful, unnecessary and uninformative, and the cruelty is entirely gratuitous and indefensible.

‘… the best model for human cancer research is Herringus rufus … The histology of the tumours is identical to that in man but, if necessary it may be different. Although the red herring lives only two years, correction factors can be applied such that a herring aged 18 months is equivalent to a human being aged 20–70 years: the incidence of tumours is then found to be the same as, or different from, that in man.’

Anon (1974). Animal models in cancer research, Lancet, ii, 1506