No undue animal suffering

Prior to beginning of any research programme on animals the most important responsibilities of researchers in an animal experiment are pain minimization and distress to animals, prevent unacceptable study end points i.e. death as an end-point is often ethically unacceptable and should be fully justified. When death cannot be avoided, the procedures must be designed to result in the deaths of as few animals as possible, avoid repeated use of animals in experiments, minimize duration of experiments, using appropriate euthanasia (euthanasia chamber method), proper planning of pre-operative and surgical procedures, and post-operative care (Clemence and Leaman, 2016). One has to keep a note that animals have intrinsic values that must be respected and a researcher should fully take care of all the animals which he/she is utilising for study and experimentation. A deep pre experimentation survey has to be made in order to trace out if other alternatives available and utilise those alternatives in place of animals. When there are no good alternatives available, researchers have to consider if the research can be postponed until a good alternative is developed. If no alternative is available then all the necessary measures from procuring animal’s upto the completion of project, a researcher should compulsorily follow all the scientific and humane methodologies during his work with animals. Researchers have to consider both the feeling of pain and suffering that laboratory animals will face and assess them in the value of relationship to the research of animals, people, and the environment. All of the possible benefits of the study have to be considered, substantiated and specified in both the short and long run before planning a project. This responsibility also entails the obligation to consider both the scientific quality of the experiment and whether or not the experiment will have relevant scientific benefits on human life. Researchers have to lower the risk of pain, hunger, malnutrition, thirst, abnormal cold/heat, fear, stress, illness, injury and provide excellent animal welfare. Apart from animal welfare it’s a duty of researcher to ensure that the use of laboratory animals doesn’t disrupt or endanger biological diversity and overall ecosystem. Endangered species need not  be put to experimentation or reduced to a minimum as possible. It is again a responsibility of student to keep transparency in work with animal sso that there is no repetition of work on any animal. Persons dealing with animal testing such as animal handlers, housekeepers, laboratory workers, etc., should be expert in the field and should carry all the surgical and other lab animal procedures in presence of a qualified veterinarian.

Tail piece

   

As the end-point of an experiment or if animal is suffering from some deadly disease euthanasia (the act of inducing humane death in an animal by a method that induces rapid loss of consciousness and death with a minimum possible pain, discomfort and distress) of laboratory animals is required, at this point of stage the welfare of the animal and the personnel must be considered. The technique chosen for euthanizing an animal should achieve quick, quiet, and painless death and should not induce fear, apprehension, or panic in the animal. Other animals should be protected from the sight, sound, or even smell of the procedure. All research personnel must be adequate and appropriately trained in all methods of euthanasia employed in the laboratory and the staff dealing must also be trained to evaluate vital signs in the species used to confirm death in the animals.  The welfare of the personnel is protected by adopting a procedure that is physically and chemically safe and aesthetically acceptable. The ethical guidelines have facilitated better care and management of animals, decreasing degree of animal suffering, reduction in number of animals used, the accuracy of results and many developments in various aspects of laboratory animal science. Animal research had a key role in many scientific and medical advances of the past century and continues to support our comprehensions about various diseases. The global trend for animal use is indispensable in various fields of research so the research on animal should be justified prior to begin of any experimentation as the substitutes to animal testing may be very expensive and difficult to work. In the end, ethics in animal experimentation is an essential part to prevent any undue animal suffering and pain, ethical committees need to be reviewed and made mandatory functional to examine the details of research on animals to be conducted and to ensure animal comfort. Results can be generated by animal testing is a fact that will be useful for treating disease in humans. However, the use of non human subjects for biomedical research still forms an area of intense debate.

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