Who is Concerned about Animal Care and Use in Developing Countries?

Global expectations for improvements in the health of humans and animals require scientific studies involving the use of animals while addressing public concerns about the welfare of the animals used in science. However, more than 1.2 billion people live in extreme poverty, about 850 million are chronically hungry (and the number is rising), and most of these people are found in developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South and east Asia1. Yet animal welfare is of importance because of the link between healthy, well-cared-for animals and sound science (Demers et al., 2006). to arrest this trend, the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of the United Nations set an overall objective to reduce the proportion of people who are extremely poor and hungry by 50% by the year 2015.1 In developing countries, poverty, resource scarcity, and education all factor into the way that animals are regarded and treated. In some cultures, certain animals may be accorded holy status, while other species are subject to extreme indifference and neglect. economic systems and human values that place efficiency and profit above animal welfare lead to the inhumane practices found in factory farming (Rahman et al., 2005); thus, animal welfare issues cannot be viewed in isolation from culture, values, and economic conditions – all of which affect how animals are perceived and treated. Developing countries are increasingly coming under pressure to harmonize international standards set by developed countries, such as to improve their delivery of veterinary services as a prerequisite for entering the competitive arena of international trade in animals and animal products (Bruckner, 2004); the demand of certain standards in the instructions to authors by some scientific journals, e.g., of quality, relevance, and, in animal experiments, proof that no alternative is available (Gruber and Hartung, 2004; Kilkenny et al., 2010; MacCallum, 2010). While consideration of alternative methods for animal tests in developing countries is significantly important (because good quality laboratory animals and proper animal facilities are not always sufficiently available to perform the currently required quality controlled testing), it is to be noted that some alternative methods have been implemented in the development, production, and testing of new vaccines (Di Fabio et al,. 2002; Hong and Hendriks, 1999) as well as in toxicological studies by some institutions. Animal welfare is profoundly affected by the culture, values, and economies of human societies2. Research that can cause Who is Concerned about Animal Care and Use in Developing Countries?