Canadians for the Advancement of Health Research::. alternatives to animal research

Vested Interests Corp.

From roughly 1930 on, medical students were taught that virtually every significant advance - from the discovery of insulin to surgery for 'blue babies' - arose from 'basic' scientific research on laboratory animals. These distortions were further propagated by the corporations that flourished with the rise of animal experimentation; the laboratory animal breeders, sellers, and promoters. While occasionally a brave clinician dared to contradict the dogma of animal experimentation, he did so at grave risk to his reputation and his livelihood. Mass media stories continued to aggrandize the accomplishments of animal research and even investigative reporters failed to see that the claims of animal researchers were largely a promotional device aimed at bringing in the federal funds.---Brandon Reines, Medical Historian

In Canada, animal protection laws do not exist to protect the 1,8 million animals used in Canadian laboratories. (In comparison, 600 million farm animals are reared, transported and slaughtered for food) In fact, farm and laboratory animals are excluded from the protection of the law on purpose: the strict application of the century-old "Cruelty to Animals" legislation would render impossible the use of animals as food and as experimental subjects. As a consequence, the animals in these two categories do not have the basic legal and moral protection that cats and dogs seem to enjoy as pets.(1,2)

Alternatives (i.e. replacement to the use of laboratory animals) could be promoted by a rethink of how basic science is performed to fuel medical knowledge. Such change is viewed by some individuals in the biomedical community as "hindrance." In the case of human-based research, the collection of human tissue and the development of alternatives are difficult enterprises, and the lack of better scientific methods certainly delays medical progress.(3) The Codes of Nuremberg, the Accords of Helsinki, national legislations and regulatory requirements, institutional ethics review boards, informed consent procedures, and international harmonizations that regulate scientific research involving human subjects, can be viewed as obstacles to medical progress. These rules, initially designed to protect people's rights and safety, render research on human subjects much more stringent than it used to be in the past. On the other hand, poor ethical considerations apply in the case of research involving non-human animals. Animal testing, in theory, must precede any investigation on human beings. Laboratory animals are routinely subjected to invasive, painful and terminal procedures causing their death.

The number of animals used in 1999 in registered institutions, according to the Canadian Council on Animal Care, was 1,746,606. This number is however largely underestimated. For instance, private companies do not have to release their figures.

Amphibia 29,860
Cats 2,576
Dogs 7,444
Domestic birds 188,309
Cephalopods 41
Farm animals 76,647
Fish 399,616
Guinea pigs 44,181
Hamsters 4,976
Marine mammals 1,628
Mice 648,550
Miniature swine 130
Non-human primates 1,131
Rabbits 16,566
Rats 268,583
Reptiles 5,665
Canadian wild species 47,468

See details at Canadian Council on Animal Care

The scientific use of animals in Canada from 1975 to 1999 has dropped from 2,699,012 to 1,746,606 in 1999.