Guidelines for the ethical use of animals in applied ethology studies
Section snippets
Background
Almost all applied ethologists use animals for research or educational purposes. Many are involved directly in studying animal welfare and ethics, and some are involved in committee work or legislative procedure related to animal welfare and ethics. As a result, an area of applied ethology of continuing interest is the promotion of the welfare and ethical treatment of animals used in research. However, in contrast to some other fields involving animal research, there are currently no guidelines
Legislation
It is recognised that many countries already have legislation regarding the use of animals in research. The guidelines presented in this paper are not intended to replace or subvert this legislation, and ethologists should conduct research according to both the spirit and letter of their local legislation. However, investigators should be aware that legislation may sometimes be considerably dated, or have been formulated for commercial circumstances, e.g. with consideration for economics and
Ethical principles and decision models
By definition, applied ethologists conduct research on animals, or have a vested interest in behavioural research. These guidelines are therefore written with an acceptance that animals can be ‘used’ for the betterment of human or non-human animal species. There are different ethical stand-points whereby the use of animals in research can be evaluated, and several models outlining the decision process relating to the ethical use of animals in research (e.g. Bateson, 1986, Porter, 1992, De Cock
Reducing the costs
A widely accepted method of reducing the costs associated with animal research is implementation of the three R’s, i.e. replacement, reduction and refinement (Russell and Burch, 1959).
Increasing the benefits
As stated previously, the benefits of any proposed research should be made as great as possible. These can be maximised in several ways.
Field experiments
Investigators conducting field experiments of applied animal behaviour should consider the ethical issues discussed above, and in addition, the impact of their work on other populations of animals and ecosystems. Methods of marking, the taking of physiological samples, capture, continuous observation, etc., might all influence an animal’s ability to survive both at the time of observation and in the future. The welfare of other animals dependent on the subject (e.g. offspring) should also be
Acknowledgements
C.M. Sherwin was funded by the UFAW Hume Research Fellowship during preparation of this document. The authors thank A.B.M. Raj for advice on Appendix B, and ISAE Council and membership for discussion on an earlier version of the manuscript at its Annual General Meeting in 2001.
References (17)
Assessment of pain in animals
Anim. Behav.
(1991)Field experiments in animal behaviour: methods and ethics
Anim. Behav.
(1991)- et al.
Animals in behavioural research
Anim. Behav.
(1988) - et al.
Food deprivation during observation reduces social learning in hens
Anim. Behav.
(1993) On the number of subjects used in animal behaviour experiments
Anim. Behav.
(1982)When to experiment on animals
New Scientist
(1986)- Chiarotti, F., Puopolo, M., 2000. Refinement in behavioural research: a statistical approach. In: Balls, M., van...
- Christiansen, S.B., Sandoe, P., 2000. Ethics in animal behaviour and welfare research. In: Ramos, A., Pinheiro, L.C.,...