Animal Sacrifices

2. The Use of Animals in Science

2 The Use of Animals in Science Sidney Gendin Although each year only about 5 percent of all animal deaths at the hands ofhuman beings result from the use ofanimals in science, the number killed-in the neighborhood of 500 million-is not inconsiderable. I Ifwe are to make an intelligent judgment about the ethics and scientific wisdom of permitting this many animals to be used in scientific settings, we must begin to inform ourselves at least about the broad contours oftheir use: for what purposes they are used, under what conditions, and with what legal protection, for example. This chapter attempts to take us a modest way toward fulfilling this obligation. In Section 1, I offer briefdescriptions of the major categories ofanimal use in science, adding, where appropriate, statistics concerning the numbers of animals used. A closer examination of some representative and, as it happens, controversial uses of animals is offered in Section 2. Virtually every critic of the use of animals in science believes that science can advance by relying on alternatives to using animals. I describe some of the major types of alternatives in Section 3 and canvass the opinions for and against their validity . Finally, in Section 4, I highlight existing and proposed legislation as it applies to the use of animals in science in the major English-speaking nations of the world. I restrict my attention to these nations not because the rest of the world is unworthy of our attention but only because of the limitations of space. Copyrighted Material 16 1. Categories and Numbers Product Testing Sidney Gendin Animals are routinely used to test the safety of consumer products. Acute and chronic toxicity tests are carried out on animals to establish toxic effects of low or high doses of such items as insecticides, pesticides, antifreeze, brake fluids, bleaches, Christmas tree sprays, silver and brass polish, oven cleaners, deodorants, skin fresheners, bubble baths, freckle creams, eye makeup, crayons, inks, suntan lotions, nail polish, zipper lubricants, paints, food dyes, chemical solvents, and floor cleaners. The test animals may be force-fed these products or have them rubbed or injected into their skin or dropped into their eyes. The Draize test, an eye irritancy test, is one such test, and will be described in more detail in Section 2. Not all product tests on animals are tests for toxicity. For example , animals are used in crash tests to analyze the adequacy of seat belts, helmets, and shoulder harnesses. Behavioral Research Behavioral research using animals mayor may not involve pain. In many cases the experiments are the classic learning experiments in which mice or rats are required to run through mazes, move levers, or perform some comparable task. These may involve reward and punishment for success and failure. If the animal does not move the proper lever or does not move it quickly enough, it may not be fed or it may receive a small shock. Other psychological experiments typically performed on larger animals (usually primates) differ. For example, chimpanzees may be taken from their mothers, and a soft chimplike toy may serve as a surrogate mother. The baby chimps may experience different discomforts, while the scientist observes their degree of reliance on the mothersubstitute . Details of one such experiment will be given in Section 2. Copyrighted Material The Use of Animals in Science 17 Instructional Purposes Animals are used for study in the classroom. High school students learning some elementary anatomy frequently dissect frogs. The frogs are often dead, but sometimes the students themselves must first deliver the coup de grace. High school students, and particularly college students, are not limited to frogs. Mice, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, and cats are used to teach students, the majority of whom have no plans to become biologists, the elementary facts of anatomy by way of "hands-on" learning. No reliable tabulations are kept concerning how many animals are used for these teaching purposes, but the lowest sensible estimate would be two to three million per year in the United States. Over one million such animals are used annually in the International Science and Engineering Fair alone.2 In Vivo Tests Animals are used whole and alive in so-called in vivo tests in the pharmaceutical industry. New drugs and vaccines are routinely tested on animals for their efficacy and safety before they are made available to humans. Emergency Medicine Animals are used in emergency medical situations...