In online searches, animal testing is the most commonly used term and is used to represent any use of animals by scientists. However animal testing actually refers to the use of animals to test a substance – a drug, cream or chemical – that will be released into the environment. The substance is tested to see if it works, how it distributes in the body and whether it is toxic. Fewer than 20 per cent of lab animals are used for this purpose and it is a legal obligation demanded by various authorities before performing human testing (clinical trials).

‘Testing’ is done by the chemical industry, the pharmaceutical industry and academics. I was surprised to learn that the pharmaceutical industry is keen to stop animal testing and is actively looking for reliable replacements that will not compromise patient safety.

Animal experimentation is a general term to describe both testing and research and has a negative connotation. The term vivisection, is also negative and mainly used in the UK. It is associated to any type of animal-related testing and research. However vivisection actually refers to the dissection of living animals; the definition includes human surgery. In previous times this was done without anesthesia.

While the proportion of animals used for testing is declining, the proportion of animals used in ‘research’ is growing.

Animal research is carried out by the biomedical community – the pharmaceutical industry and academia. In terms of research, scientists are not obliged to do studies with animals, they use animals as models to better understand diseases and find ways to influence the cause of them. Essentially they look for an animal that has a disease similar to man, either naturally occurring or one that they can recreate through genetic modification. This is not testing, where an animal is exposed to compounds, this is research and accounts for 60 – 80% of the animals are used.

We regularly hear about medical advancement for diseases like cancer, which are reported in the press –“research with mice has uncovered a cure for x disease”. Yet do we, the general public, consciously make this connection between medical breakthroughs and the use of animals?

Some argue that it doesn’t matter what you call it, as animals are still suffering for the protection of man. However I think it’s important that we understand the terminology and use it properly to ensure we know what we fighting for, or against, and how this might impact our own lives.

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Finding the right balance between animal welfare & human welfare

What’s driving the increase in animal research?

Monkeys have been used to advance deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease; research with mice is helping develop new treatments for leukaemia and lymphoma; rabbits and cattle helped with cervical cancer vaccines, and goats in developing blood clotting agents from milk.

Around a third of medicines used by vets are also used in the treatment of humans.

And also: What is animal testing exactly?

And also: What are the key issues?

Basic or fundamental research helps advance scientific knowledge about how animals and humans behave, develop and function biologically. In the EU, basic research accounts for approximately 33% of all animals used for research purposes and tends to be publicly funded with some private funding from industry and medical research charities.

Targeted or applied research helps scientific understanding of diseases leading to and including the development of new vaccines and medicines. This type of research is both publicly and privately funded and may also use findings obtained from basic research. Targeted research is the second largest area where animals are used. In the EU this accounts for approximately 31% of animals used for research purposes.

8% of animals are used in toxicological or other product safety evaluation, which are performed to test potential harm to animals, humans or the environment. Such research is required by European legislation and international guidelines. Of these, just over half of the animals are used for evaluating human (incl. dentistry) and veterinary medicines. The remainder are used to obtain quality and safety data from household and industrial chemicals, herbicides, fertilizers, and food additives. Quality and safety tests are usually funded by private organizations.

The remaining 28% of animals are used for the purposes of production and quality control, diagnosis of diseases, education and training or other purposes.

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And also: What is animal testing exactly?

And also: What are the key issues?

Animal welfare view

Animal rights groups on the whole object to all animal testing and many advocate that the results of the testing are unreliable, and that all experiments could be replaced with non-animal testing methods.
Many argue that scientists automatically opt to use animals in trials rather than seeking out non-animal alternatives, and that this mindset needs to change.
They campaign to modernise parts of the legislation governing animal testing arguing that it is out dated.
Science has never had to prove that animal testing works, yet there is a scientific and legal demand to prove that alternatives do work.
Animal rights groups want to see animals being regarded as sentient beings instead of tools for research.
There is also concern about the rise in use of animals in genetic manipulation and cloning.

Research view
The pharmaceutical and scientific community focus on developing new medicines that are effective in humans, and that  deliver the expected result with identified side effects before they get a licence to produce and go to market.
The scientific community argues that even though animal testing doesn’t always deliver perfect results with 100% accuracy, it’s still the only way to do invasive research to understand living systems and to provide the best possible assurance of the effects of new medicines.

Legislative view
In the new Lisbon treaty animals have been given rights as sentient beings, and it’s now a legal requirement not to use animals where there’s an alternative.
European and national legislation demands all medicines are tested in animals before they can be tested in humans.
Some medicines and vaccines must be tested on animals for every batch. These tend to be medicines that are made of, or derived from a live product – such as botox, polio vaccine etc.
The current regulation 86/609 has been revised and now provides further protection for animals. The new legislation, Directive 2010/63 will take effect in member states on 1st January 2013.

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What is animal testing exactly?

Are there any non-animal testing alternatives?