Subject(s)
Animal Husbandry/education , Animal Technicians/education , Animals, Laboratory , Education, Veterinary/standards , Laboratory Animal Science/education , Medical Laboratory Personnel/education , Animal Husbandry/legislation & jurisprudence , Animal Technicians/legislation & jurisprudence , Animal Welfare , Animals , Education, Veterinary/legislation & jurisprudence , Europe , Laboratory Animal Science/legislation & jurisprudence , Medical Laboratory Personnel/legislation & jurisprudenceABSTRACT
We describe a system to support decision-making on the ethical acceptability of animal experiments for scientific researchers and others responsible for ethical decision-making in animal experiments. The system consists of eight steps. Each step contains a number of substantive questions or a computational rule, leading to a well-articulated moral judgment on specific animal experiments. The system comprises a number of moral assumptions and pre-emptive norms, but leaves enough room for moral discretion and personal responsibility. The general ethical ideas behind the moral choices and assumptions are sketched and potential objections to the overall approach are discussed.
Subject(s)
Animal Welfare , Ethics , Animals , Decision Support Techniques , Humans , ResearchABSTRACT
One day old pullets derived from marginally vitamin A deficient laying hens were fed diets containing either adequate or marginal amounts of vitamin A. At the age of 34 days, animals fed the diet low in vitamin A had group mean plasma concentrations of retinol which were one tenth the mean plasma concentrations of controls. When compared with their controls, the deficient animals displayed body weights which were on average 16% less. Of 20 pullets per dietary group one control animal and 9 deficient animals died by the age of 34 days. At the age of 29 days, control (n = 16) and deficient chickens (n = 11) were examined clinically by assigning scores to a number of parameters. Three assessors carried out the examination independently. The birds were presented for examination at random and their treatment groups were not disclosed to the assessors. Out of 26 parameters assessed quantitatively per individual animal, only three parameters discriminated between control and deficient chickens. Deficient animals grew poorly, had a hunched up posture and increased fluid content in faeces. Classical signs of chronic vitamin A deficiency in domestic fowl such as bone deformities, keratinization of the tongue and decreased transparency of the cornea were not observed.
Subject(s)
Chickens , Poultry Diseases/physiopathology , Vitamin A Deficiency/veterinary , Animals , Body Weight , Female , Physical Examination/veterinary , Poultry Diseases/blood , Random Allocation , Vitamin A/blood , Vitamin A Deficiency/blood , Vitamin A Deficiency/physiopathologyABSTRACT
In order to gain experience about the detection of adverse effects during a scientific procedure, we carried out a clinical examination of rats with zinc deficiency. In weanling rats fed a zinc-deficient diet (30 mumol zinc/kg) for 10 days, the mean tibial concentration of zinc was reduced by 53% and body weight gain by 73% when compared with rats fed a diet containing an adequate amount of zinc (150 mumol zinc/kg). In a small open field on day 9 of the experiment, the deficient rats more frequently displayed the posture standing upright with elevated heels. On day 10 of the experiment a clinical examination was carried out at random and 'blind' by three independent assessors. Out of 20 variables scored quantitatively on each individual animal, only body size differed between normal and deficient rats. Other classical signs of zinc deficiency, such as alopecia, dermatitis and diarrhoea, were not detected. It is concluded that in this rat model of zinc deficiency, no evidence for extreme discomfort can be demonstrated.
Subject(s)
Disease Models, Animal , Rats , Rodent Diseases/physiopathology , Zinc/deficiency , Animals , Diet , Male , Physical Examination/veterinary , Posture , Random Allocation , Tibia/analysis , Tibia/growth & development , Weight Gain , Zinc/analysisABSTRACT
Rats with or without spontaneously occurring jaundice were clinically examined. Jaundiced rats had five-fold higher serum bilirubin concentrations than control animals. About 90% of serum bilirubin in the jaundiced animals was in conjugated form. Control and jaundiced rats did not differ with respect to clinical signs such as alertness, stance, hair coat, position of eyes, discharge from eyes and nose, and cleanliness of anal orifice. While examined individually, jaundiced rats could not be identified readily on the basis of a yellow colour of sole of feet, nose, ears and tail. When kept together with control rats, jaundiced rats could be selected reasonably well. Urines of jaundiced rats had a more intense yellow colour than urines of control animals. Rats with jaundice were significantly more active in a small open field test than control rats.
Subject(s)
Jaundice/veterinary , Rats , Rodent Diseases/diagnosis , Animals , Animals, Newborn , Bilirubin/blood , Female , Jaundice/diagnosis , Jaundice/urine , Male , Rodent Diseases/urineABSTRACT
An attempt was made to assess discomfort in rats with hepatomegaly induced by feeding a high cholesterol, high cholate diet. After 8 weeks, the rats displayed a more than two-fold increase in liver weight when compared with controls fed a commercial diet. In a small open field test, behaviour of rats with hepatomegaly was similar to the controls. Of 9 parameters scored per rat, only the response to pressure on the right hypochondrium (tension of overlying muscles) scored higher than in control animals. There was considerable between-assessor variation in the assignment of scores. It is suggested, tentatively, that hepatomegaly in rats caused by cholesterol plus cholate feeding, may not cause extreme discomfort. Upon 'blind' palpation of control and test rats, an average of 60% of the rats with hepatomegaly were classified correctly.
