fantasticbeastsandhowtokeepthem:
Anonymous said to @ask-drferox: Hi Dr.Ferox! I see a lot online about testing on animals and how
it’s very bad, but I never see why exactly, or what actually goes on.
Do you happen to know if there is animal experts (such as vets) involved
in animal testing to make sure it is safe? And if it’s bad, is there
alternatives that actually work that aren’t testing on humans? Thanks!So, it should probably be obvious, but I work in a vet clinic and every single product we sell and use is tested on animals.
Every drug has been tested. Every food has been tested. Every suture material, bandage, piece of equipment. Everything we use in veterinary medicine has been tested on animals, and you should really hope that has been the case.
I saw an ‘infographic’ a few years back that was all “These brands test on animals so don’t use them!” and among many others that were probably a fair point, it listed Iams. You know Iams, the pet food company, which in recent years tried to produce prescription diets for urinary and gastrointestinal health. At the very least all pet food goes through a palatability test, which is essentially offering the animals two different foods and seeing which one they eat more or or first.
There is a lot to talk about with animal testing, what actually happens, what used to happen, and where we still actually need it. It’s going to be a wordy post, so I’ll try to break it up for you.
Now I’m just a pre-vet student and haven’t learned too much on my own about careers for vets involving lab animals, but here in the US (and I would assume this is the same or similar in many other countries), every experiment involving must be given the go ahead (it’s been a year since the class where we discussed this so I don’t remember any of the actual terms) by a committee and this will prevent any unnecessary use of lab animals or anything that will be overtly cruel to the animals. In addition, every day, each animal is examined by a vet to ensure welfare.
At least in the US, the committee is the IACUC – Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Research protocols have to be written up & submitted to the IACUC, who will judge reasoning, methods, etc. & approve or deny them. Protocols are approved for 1-3 years (depending on animal species), and IACUC members will do inspections of the facility & animals every 6 months to make sure that the lab & facility are doing everything they’re supposed to – protocols not being followed is a Problem & will be dealt with. Protocols can also be frozen until lab staff redoes training if necessary, during which time no one from the lab can handle the animals.
All animal research is also subjected to what’s called the 3 R’s – reduction, replacement, and refinement. Basically, do you HAVE to use animals for this or can you use tissues, computer models, etc.? (replacement) What’s the least emotionally intelligent animal that can be used for the study (basically can you use say, a rabbit instead of a monkey)? (refinement) And what’s the smallest number of animals you can use for the study while still making sure the results will be statistically sound? (reduction)
There’s a lot of hoops to jump through to be able to do research with animals and there’s a lot of monitoring done. And a lot of environmental regulation done to reduce stress to the animals, since stress will affect study results as well in many cases.
ifesbob 