animal care and use, research integrity, reporting misconduct, animal research, student research, blood draws, animals
Medical research using laboratory animals is important for understanding health and disease in both humans and animals— particularly for testing new treatments and drugs. Scientists who conduct research involving animals must ensure that the research is relevant to human or animal health and that they safeguard the animals’ welfare. More than 50 years ago, principles known as the 3Rs (replacement, reduction, and refinement) were developed to provide a framework for humane animal research and to form the basis of national and international guidelines on the use of animals in research, testing, and teaching.
A first-year undergraduate student in a university biology department was walking alone through a hallway after class. The student noticed a rabbit in a cage on a bench in a research laboratory she had never entered before. As an animal lover who raised rabbits as pets as a child, the student petted the rabbit and noticed that the animal seemed much too large for its cage such that the rabbit could only lie down on its haunches. The student also noticed other signs of potential neglect and nervously approached a group of more senior students about the situation. One of them responded that the rabbit was an experimental animal from which the seniors were drawing daily blood samples for their final year Honours projects and claimed they had done nothing wrong.
The younger student remained concerned about the rabbit’s welfare and notified a faculty member in the department. The lecturer’s only concern seemed to about the student disrupting ongoing research, leaving the student worried about being in trouble and dismayed that the rabbit’s welfare had not been considered.
Questions
What protections are offered by the 3R principles, and who is responsible for their observance in this case? Are the principles sufficient? If not, what other principles or protections do you think are necessary?
What do you think about the actions and inactions of the junior student and the more senior students? What about the actions of the lecturer?
What else could the junior student do about her concerns, having already approached the more senior students and the faculty member?
What mechanisms should the university have in place to address research animal welfare and reporting concerns regarding research animal welfare?
