Problems arising out of the use of live animals for experimental or industrial purposes

Recommendation 621 (1971)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 20 January 1971 (20th Sitting) (see Docs. 2874Docs. 2874, report of the Committee on Science and Technology, and 2875, opinion of the Committee on Agriculture). Text adopted by the Assembly on 20 January 1971 (20th Sitting).

The Assembly,

1. Having taken note of the report of its Committee on Science and Technology on the problems arising out of the use of live animals for experimental or industrial purposes (Doc. 2874) ;

2. Noting the differences in member States' legislation concerning the use of live animals in scientific research or for industrial purposes ;

3. Condemning vivisectionist practices and methods which inflict unnecessary suffering upon animals ;

4. Considering that in vitro methods can sometimes be used in scientific and industrial research, instead of experiments on live animals ;

5. Considering the many advantages to be gained by systematically developing alternative methods which are already used in several scientific disciplines ;

6. Observing that many researchers are badly informed of these new alternative methods and are not yet aware of the advantages they offer ;

7. Considering the waste of human and financial resources due to the dispersal of research and the failure to inform researchers adequately of new alternative methods ;

8. Considering that, where the use of live animals is concerned, an effort must be made to reconcile the needs of scientific and technical research, carried out for the benefit of human beings and animals alike, with fundamental concepts of human morality ;

9. Considering that the scientist's choice between live and in vitro methods would be made easier by a thorough study comprising an inventory of :

the reasons for using live animals in laboratories, in both pure and applied research ;

the research centres and industries which use live animals ;

the alternatives, whether already in use or under study, to experiments on live animals,

Recommends that the Committee of Ministers :

1 to draft international legislation setting out the conditions under which, and the scientific grounds on which, experiments on live animals may be authorised ;

2 to establish a Documentation and Information Centre open to all interested circles, using data bank techniques to collect information on :

the scientific disciplines and industrial sectors in which live animals are used for experimental purposes,

the types of experiments carried out,

the kinds and numbers of animals used,

the alternatives to experiments on live animals,

the scientific literature in this field ;

3 grant fellowships to specialised researchers for multidisciplinary studies of the overall aspects of human and animal life;

4 set up new tissue banks for research and teaching purposes ;

5 forbid in secondary schools experiments on live animals for teaching purposes, and limit these experiments in university teaching by having them replaced by new visual methods ;

6 request the World Health Organisation to collaborate in the establishment of this Documentation and Information Centre, particularly the data bank.