LABORATORY ANIMAL SCIENCE
1. HISTORY
Animal experiments are nothing new!
Hippocrates (400 BC)
->Anatomy of animals without anesthesia
Galenus (130-201)
->Used dogs, pigs and monkeys.
->Showed that urine is produced by the kidneys.
->Better understanding of the circulation system.
In the 15 century: an urge to increase knowledge
->More animals were used without anesthesia, people thought that animals didn’t fell pain.
Andrea Vesalius (1514-1564)
->Humans anatomy
-> showed the correlation between the spine and paralysis, by cutting the spine of animals.
William Harvey (1578-1657)
->Increased the knowledge of blood circulation and valves.
In the 19 century: discovery of anesthesia
Darwin (1859)
->Showed that their were similarities between animals and humans.
->Animals as model for humans.
Claude Bernard (1865)
->Used animals to show the importance of organs like the liver and pancreas.
Robert Koch (1884)
->Believed that animals had to be infected deliberately in order to show pathogenicity of
microorganism
Louis Pasteur
->Used animals in the production and testing of vaccines.
After WOI: increase in production of pharmaca what resolved in an increase in lab animals.
→Cruelty to animals act (England, 1876): the first legislation concerning the use of animals
in research.
→Countermovement’s: movements against experiments on animals.
->Peter Singer (1975): Animal Liberation Movement
->Tom Regan (1983) Animal Rights Movement
, 2. LEGISLATION
Numbers
– World wide: appr. 100 million
– VS: appr. 20 million
– EG: appr. 12 million
– Belgium (2013): 626.742 • 77% rodents and 8% rabbits
• 11% fish, amphibians and reptiles
• 4% birds • 0,6% farm animals
• 0,09 % for dogs, 0,05% cats and 0,002% primates
Use of laboratory animals is fluctuating:
–development of alternatives, ethics, legislation, more responsible use and high costs ➔
decrease
–development of transgenic animals ➔ increase
Legislation
• Recent changes in law
– 6 April 2010: new Belgian Royal Decree even stricter rules concerning housing of
laboratory animals
– September 2010: new European Directive on the protection of animals used for scientific
purposes.
– Royal Decree of May 29 2013 (published on July 10): transposition of the EU Directive into
national legislation
• Definition of “Laboratory animal”:
Every living vertebrate animal – including free living and/or reproducing larval forms
– used or intended for laboratory experiments
– excluding other foetal or embryonic forms
NOW – include some invertebrae, like Cephalopoda
– include mammalian embryonic forms from the last third of term
Every use of a living vertebrate animal for experimental and other scientific purposes
– can inflict pain, suffering, discomfort or permanent injury
– including every treatment that has the purpose or the consequence of the birth of an animal
in such a condition
– exception of the least painful, in modern practice accepted methods to kill or mark the
animal (so-called humane methods)
– excluding non-experimental treatments in agriculture and in veterinary practice
• pain, suffering and discomfort were not defined in legislation → now taken up in the new
European Directive.
• an animal should not be used more than once in experiments that inflict serious pain and
suffering.
,• Degrees of pain and suffering
Not only pain have to be considered but
also permantent injury (amputation,
radiation, …)
• For what purpose can laboratory animals be used?
– production and control of sera, vaccines or diagnostics
– toxicological and pharmacological research (not for cosmetics)
– diagnose of diseases
– education
– answer scientific questions
, • Housing and taking care of laboratory animals
– housing conditions, environment, space to move, feed, water and care ➔ meet the animals’
needs
– daily control of animals and environment (temperature)
– regular control by the veterinarian (large animals) or expert (rodents, rabbits)
– law of 18.10.1991: detailed overview of caretaking and housing of animals per species
(recently reviewed in Appendix A of European Directive and defined in the Royal Decree of
6 April 2010)
• Source and identification of laboratory animals
– no stray pets, lost or abandoned animals
– mice, rats, guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits, primates, dogs, cats and quail
purpose-bred by licensed breeding companies
exemption (difficult to get, strong motivation needed)
– farm animals
just from a farm
– special demands for threatened species living in the wild
– dogs, cats and primates
marked individually and permanent
immediately after weaning
– register must be kept of all animals coming in and leaving the laboratory
• Statistical information
– statistical data concerning the use of laboratory animals must be handed to the government
every year: *numbers used per species
*numbers per type of experiment (fundamental research, toxicology, …)
Purpose Type
Basic biological research Cardiovascular disease of humans
Research and development of products and Nervous and mental illnesses
devices for medical, dental and veterinary use
Production and quality control of products and Cancer in humans (excluding evaluation
devices for medical and dental use of human carcinogenic properties)
Production and quality control of products and Others humans diseases
devices for veterinary use
Toxicological and other safety studies Research specifically targeting animal
diseases
Diagnosis of diseases
Education and training
• Responsible use of laboratory animals
Animal experiments:
– must be restricted to the absolute minimum
– may only be performed if the purpose cannot be achieved by other methods
– may only then cause pain, suffering or injury if they cannot be avoided for the purpose
– may only be performed under anaesthesia, unless the pain, suffering or injury is less than
what is caused by the anaesthesia
– if anaesthesia is not possible, analgesics or another fitting method to decrease pain or
suffering should be used
– animals must never be subject to serious pain, great discomfort or suffering
– the choice of animal species must be seriously considered
– preferably use animals with the lowest neurophysiologic degree
1. HISTORY
Animal experiments are nothing new!
Hippocrates (400 BC)
->Anatomy of animals without anesthesia
Galenus (130-201)
->Used dogs, pigs and monkeys.
->Showed that urine is produced by the kidneys.
->Better understanding of the circulation system.
In the 15 century: an urge to increase knowledge
->More animals were used without anesthesia, people thought that animals didn’t fell pain.
Andrea Vesalius (1514-1564)
->Humans anatomy
-> showed the correlation between the spine and paralysis, by cutting the spine of animals.
William Harvey (1578-1657)
->Increased the knowledge of blood circulation and valves.
In the 19 century: discovery of anesthesia
Darwin (1859)
->Showed that their were similarities between animals and humans.
->Animals as model for humans.
Claude Bernard (1865)
->Used animals to show the importance of organs like the liver and pancreas.
Robert Koch (1884)
->Believed that animals had to be infected deliberately in order to show pathogenicity of
microorganism
Louis Pasteur
->Used animals in the production and testing of vaccines.
After WOI: increase in production of pharmaca what resolved in an increase in lab animals.
→Cruelty to animals act (England, 1876): the first legislation concerning the use of animals
in research.
→Countermovement’s: movements against experiments on animals.
->Peter Singer (1975): Animal Liberation Movement
->Tom Regan (1983) Animal Rights Movement
, 2. LEGISLATION
Numbers
– World wide: appr. 100 million
– VS: appr. 20 million
– EG: appr. 12 million
– Belgium (2013): 626.742 • 77% rodents and 8% rabbits
• 11% fish, amphibians and reptiles
• 4% birds • 0,6% farm animals
• 0,09 % for dogs, 0,05% cats and 0,002% primates
Use of laboratory animals is fluctuating:
–development of alternatives, ethics, legislation, more responsible use and high costs ➔
decrease
–development of transgenic animals ➔ increase
Legislation
• Recent changes in law
– 6 April 2010: new Belgian Royal Decree even stricter rules concerning housing of
laboratory animals
– September 2010: new European Directive on the protection of animals used for scientific
purposes.
– Royal Decree of May 29 2013 (published on July 10): transposition of the EU Directive into
national legislation
• Definition of “Laboratory animal”:
Every living vertebrate animal – including free living and/or reproducing larval forms
– used or intended for laboratory experiments
– excluding other foetal or embryonic forms
NOW – include some invertebrae, like Cephalopoda
– include mammalian embryonic forms from the last third of term
Every use of a living vertebrate animal for experimental and other scientific purposes
– can inflict pain, suffering, discomfort or permanent injury
– including every treatment that has the purpose or the consequence of the birth of an animal
in such a condition
– exception of the least painful, in modern practice accepted methods to kill or mark the
animal (so-called humane methods)
– excluding non-experimental treatments in agriculture and in veterinary practice
• pain, suffering and discomfort were not defined in legislation → now taken up in the new
European Directive.
• an animal should not be used more than once in experiments that inflict serious pain and
suffering.
,• Degrees of pain and suffering
Not only pain have to be considered but
also permantent injury (amputation,
radiation, …)
• For what purpose can laboratory animals be used?
– production and control of sera, vaccines or diagnostics
– toxicological and pharmacological research (not for cosmetics)
– diagnose of diseases
– education
– answer scientific questions
, • Housing and taking care of laboratory animals
– housing conditions, environment, space to move, feed, water and care ➔ meet the animals’
needs
– daily control of animals and environment (temperature)
– regular control by the veterinarian (large animals) or expert (rodents, rabbits)
– law of 18.10.1991: detailed overview of caretaking and housing of animals per species
(recently reviewed in Appendix A of European Directive and defined in the Royal Decree of
6 April 2010)
• Source and identification of laboratory animals
– no stray pets, lost or abandoned animals
– mice, rats, guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits, primates, dogs, cats and quail
purpose-bred by licensed breeding companies
exemption (difficult to get, strong motivation needed)
– farm animals
just from a farm
– special demands for threatened species living in the wild
– dogs, cats and primates
marked individually and permanent
immediately after weaning
– register must be kept of all animals coming in and leaving the laboratory
• Statistical information
– statistical data concerning the use of laboratory animals must be handed to the government
every year: *numbers used per species
*numbers per type of experiment (fundamental research, toxicology, …)
Purpose Type
Basic biological research Cardiovascular disease of humans
Research and development of products and Nervous and mental illnesses
devices for medical, dental and veterinary use
Production and quality control of products and Cancer in humans (excluding evaluation
devices for medical and dental use of human carcinogenic properties)
Production and quality control of products and Others humans diseases
devices for veterinary use
Toxicological and other safety studies Research specifically targeting animal
diseases
Diagnosis of diseases
Education and training
• Responsible use of laboratory animals
Animal experiments:
– must be restricted to the absolute minimum
– may only be performed if the purpose cannot be achieved by other methods
– may only then cause pain, suffering or injury if they cannot be avoided for the purpose
– may only be performed under anaesthesia, unless the pain, suffering or injury is less than
what is caused by the anaesthesia
– if anaesthesia is not possible, analgesics or another fitting method to decrease pain or
suffering should be used
– animals must never be subject to serious pain, great discomfort or suffering
– the choice of animal species must be seriously considered
– preferably use animals with the lowest neurophysiologic degree
