News report: New animal testing guidelines developed.

The following article can be found online at http://news.smh.com.au/national/new-animal-testing-guidelines-developed-20080818-3xgl.html


New guidelines designed to minimise pain and suffering of lab animals used in scientific testing have been hailed a step forward by Australia's animal rights groups.

But the animal advocates argue more than a document is needed to drastically curb the practice of experimenting on and training an estimated five million mice, monkeys, pigs and other animals every year.

The guidelines, released on Monday by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), list the latest acceptable methods for minimising pain for animals during experimentation and euthanasia.

It replaces an outdated document released 10 years ago.

NHMRC chief executive Professor Warwick Anderson said the document had attracted international attention due to its world-first focus on animal wellbeing.

"The guidelines are designed to minimise the use of animals in scientific research through focusing on the three Rs - the replacement of animal research with other types of research when possible, reduction of the number of animals used in research and refinement of research techniques to minimise pain and distress," Prof Anderson said.

"When it is necessary to study animals in medical research, all involved have an obligation to care for the animals in the best ways possible."

Glenys Oogjes, executive director of Animals Australia, which campaigns against animal testing, said the new guidelines were much needed to update the pain relieving methods and enrichment strategies research organisations should be using.

"But the issue remains though that while we have these great documents, there is still no compulsory training for new and existing researchers on the laws and the best ways to reduce pain and distress," Ms Oogjes said.

"And they are not trained in the many excellent alternatives, like computer modelling for example, that can do just as good a job in testing without involving animals."

She said the ethics committees involved in research approvals were the safety net for ensuring animal testing was absolutely justified, but members were under time pressure and had limited information about suitable alternatives.

"At the moment, there is a feeling there is far too much animal testing going on because of a lack of knowledge in many quarters ... and, unfortunately, a document, while encouraging, is not going to change that," Ms Oogjes said.

Statistics collated by the Australian Association of Humane Research suggest five million animals, including fish, were used in research in 2005. NSW and Victoria were responsible for 2.3 million and 1.5 million, respectively.

Included are more than 20 types of animals from the most common, like mice, fish, chickens and sheep, to those used less frequently, like cats, dogs, horses and monkeys.