Weighing the Costs and Benefits of Animal Experiments

the core ethical principle underpinning animal experimentation regulation and policy is that the likely benefits of such research must outweigh its expected costs. Although considerable financial and human collateral costs do exist, the main costs are borne by the animals subjected to such research. Although such research may be directed at yielding benefits for animal species or the environment, the overwhelming majority is intended for human benefit, whether through the advancement of knowledge, through the development or toxicity testing of clinical interventions and consumer or industrial products, or through educational applications (Knight, 2011). This utilitarian cost:benefit analysis fundamentally underpins regulations governing animal experimentation. Directive 2010/63/ EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, with which eU Member States must comply by 2013, asserts that it is “essential, both on moral and scientific grounds, to ensure that each use of an animal is carefully evaluated as to the scientific or educational validity, usefulness and relevance of the expected result of that use. The likely harm to the animal should be balanced against the expected benefits of the project.” (eU, 2010) the Canadian Council on Animal Care guidelines on animal use protocol review similarly state: “Approval of a protocol does not guarantee that a benefit will be realized, but does mean that there will be a cost imposed on the animals. The (Animal Care Committee) must be convinced therefore of the need for animal use, and that the expected benefit will outweigh the cost.” (CCAC, 1997) However, widespread contemporary reliance on animal models during biomedical research and toxicity testing depends heavily on assumptions of human utility and, in particular, reasonable predictivity for human outcomes, which are rarely scrutinized. Yet numerous cases of discordance between animal and human outcomes (Knight, 2011) question the veracity of such assumptions.