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Animal Research Alternatives and Animal Care : About Animal Alternatives

A guide for finding alternatives to the use of animals in laboratory research.

About Animal Alternatives - The 3 Rs

The regulations of the Animal Welfare Act require investigators to provide their Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) documentation that demonstrates they have made efforts to identify possible alternatives to the use of animal subjects and procedures that minimize pain and distress to animals, and that the research procedures they propose do not unnecessarily duplicate previous experiments.  These requirements embody the principles of the "3 Rs," formulated by William Russell and Rex Burch in their 1959 book Principles of Humane Experimental Technique. The three Rs speak to the ethics of animal welfare and are as follows:

  • Replacement     
  • Reduction     
  • Refinement

These three principles are related and it is difficult to separate them completely. All speak to two fundamental concepts: to minimize animal pain and distress, and to decrease the sheer number of animals that need to be used.

 

Replacement

Replacement means using non-sentient models instead of living animals as research subjects.  Examples are computer models, plants, and in vitro cell cultures from tissues.  Some interpretations of this principle go further to suggest “higher” species should be replaced with “lower” species on the phylogenetic scale (e.g. using mice rather than primates, or annelids instead of mice). 

Reduction

Reduction is the idea of using the fewest number of animal subjects needed to produce statistically significant  scientific results.  Reducing animal use overall leads to less animal pain and distress.  Providing evidence that the proposed research is not unnecessarily duplicative also speaks to this principle, as performing already-proven studies with animals increases the number of animals used overall.

Refinement

Refinement means modifying the experimental techniques so that those techniques cause less pain or distress, or no pain or distress, to the animals.  To refine one’s techniques, one must investigate what other options – or alternatives – exist that could be applied to one’s own research.  Potential options may or may not be identified, but any that exist may or may not compatible with the goals of the study.  Evidence of all of these considerations must be documented.

 

Compliance with this requirement of the Animal Welfare Act and the accompanying USDA policies is most often demonstrated through the performance and documentation of literature searches. The information presented in the tabs in this guide are designed to help researchers design and perform those searches, and present the results to the UW-Madison Animal Care and Use Committees.

 

The Legislation and Regulatory Intent

The following federal laws and regulations mandate the investigation of research alternatives to painful or distressful procedures on animals:

Improved Standards for Laboratory Animals Act
Food Security Act of 1985
Subtitle F, Animal Welfare, Public Law 99-198

Sec. 2143 (a) (3): “ …the standards…shall, with respect to animals in research facilities, include requirements --

(A) for animal care, treatment, and practices in experimental procedures to ensure that animal pain and distress are minimized…;

(B) that the principal investigator considers alternatives to any procedure likely to produce pain or distress in experimental animals..”

 

Information Requirements of the Animal Welfare Act
Code of Federal Regulations

Title 9, Chapter 1, Subtitle A, Animal Welfare

Sec. 2.31(d): “…the IACUC shall determine that…

(ii) The principal investigator has considered alternatives to procedures that may cause more than momentary or slight pain or distress to the animals, and has provided a written narrative description of the methods and sources, e.g. the Animal Welfare Information Center, used to determine that alternatives were not available.

(iii) The principal investigator has provided written assurance that the activities do not unnecessarily duplicate previous experiments

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