Suchergebnisse

Simple SummaryThe use of research animals is regulated within the EU through Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, as well as through national legislations and guidelines. However, the ethical review process, which all animal research must undergo, has been heavily criticized. This pilot study has analyzed the ethical review process in Sweden, focusing on how well legislative demands are fulfilled by researchers and animal ethics committees. After developing a score sheet, 18 documents (including both applications and decisions) were thoroughly reviewed, and the requests in the application form were compared to legal demands. The results revealed a number of issues concerning how HBA (harm-benefit analysis) was conducted by the committees, application, and review of the 3Rs (Replace, Reduce, Refine), as well as how humane end-points, severity assessment, and the "upper limit" of suffering were implemented and assessed. The study further indicates disconcerting discrepancies between the Swedish application forms for project evaluation, national legislation, and the directive as well as a lack of transparency throughout the review process. These findings risk compliance with the directive, animal welfare, research validity, and public trust. Therefore, a number of suggestions for improvements are provided, and the need for further research is emphasized.The use of animals in research entails a range of societal and ethical issues, and there is widespread consensus that animals are to be kept safe from unnecessary suffering. Therefore, harm done to animals in the name of research has to be carefully regulated and undergo ethical review for approval. Since 2013, this has been enforced within the European Union through Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. However, critics argue that the directive and its implementation by member states do not properly consider all aspects of animal welfare, which risks causing unnecessary animal suffering and decreased public trust in the system. In this pilot study, the ethical review process in Sweden was investigated to determine whether or not the system is in fact flawed, and if so, what may be the underlying cause of this. Through in-depth analysis of 18 applications and decisions of ethical reviews, we found that there are recurring problems within the ethical review process in Sweden. Discrepancies between demands set by legislation and the structure of the application form lead to submitted information being incomplete by design. In turn, this prevents the Animal Ethics Committees from being able to fulfill their task of performing a harm-benefit analysis and ensuring Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement (the 3Rs). Results further showed that a significant number of applications failed to meet legal requirements regarding content. Similarly, no Animal Ethics Committee decision contained any account of evaluation of the 3Rs and a majority failed to include harm-benefit analysis as required by law. Hence, the welfare may be at risk, as well as the fulfilling of the legal requirement of only approving "necessary suffering". We argue that the results show an unacceptably low level of compliance in the investigated applications with the legal requirement of performing both a harm-benefit analysis and applying the 3Rs within the decision-making process, and that by implication, public insight through transparency is not achieved in these cases.In order to improve the ethical review, the process needs to be restructured, and the legal demands put on both the applicants and the Animal Ethics Committees as such need to be made clear. We further propose a number of improvements, including a revision of the application form. We also encourage future research to further investigate and address issues unearthed by this pilot study.

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The use of research animals is regulated within the EU through Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, as well as through national legislations and guidelines. However, the ethical review process, which all animal research must undergo, has been heavily criticized. This pilot study has analyzed the ethical review process in Sweden, focusing on how well legislative demands are fulfilled by researchers and animal ethics committees. After developing a score sheet, 18 documents (including both applications and decisions) were thoroughly reviewed, and the requests in the application form were compared to legal demands. The results revealed a number of issues concerning how HBA (harm–benefit analysis) was conducted by the committees, application, and review of the 3Rs (Replace, Reduce, Refine), as well as how humane end-points, severity assessment, and the "upper limit" of suffering were implemented and assessed. The study further indicates disconcerting discrepancies between the Swedish application forms for project evaluation, national legislation, and the directive as well as a lack of transparency throughout the review process. These findings risk compliance with the directive, animal welfare, research validity, and public trust. Therefore, a number of suggestions for improvements are provided, and the need for further research is emphasized. ABSTRACT: The use of animals in research entails a range of societal and ethical issues, and there is widespread consensus that animals are to be kept safe from unnecessary suffering. Therefore, harm done to animals in the name of research has to be carefully regulated and undergo ethical review for approval. Since 2013, this has been enforced within the European Union through Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. However, critics argue that the directive and its implementation by member states do not properly consider all aspects of animal welfare, which risks causing ...

Wild animals are used for research and management purposes in Sweden and throughout the world. Animals are often subjected to similar procedures and risks of compromised welfare from capture, anesthesia, handling, sampling, marking, and sometimes selective removal. The interpretation of the protection of animals used for scientific purposes in Sweden is based on the EU Directive 2010/63/EU. The purpose of animal use, irrespective if the animal is suffering or not, decides the classification as a research animal, according to Swedish legislation. In Sweden, like in several other European countries, the legislation differs between research and management. Whereas, animal research is generally well-defined and covered in the legislation, wildlife management is not. The protection of wild animals differs depending on the procedure they are subjected to, and how they are classified. In contrast to wildlife management activities, research projects have to implement the 3Rs and must undergo ethical reviews and official animal welfare controls. It is often difficult to define the dividing line between the two categories, e.g., when marking for identification purposes. This gray area creates uncertainty and problems beyond animal welfare, e.g., in Sweden, information that has been collected during management without ethical approval should not be published. The legislation therefore needs to be harmonized. To ensure consistent ethical and welfare assessments for wild animals at the hands of humans, and for the benefit of science and management, we suggest that both research and management procedures are assessed by one single Animal Ethics Committee with expertise in the 3Rs, animal welfare, wildlife population health and One Health. We emphasize the need for increased and improved official animal welfare control, facilitated by compatible legislation and a similar ethical authorization process for all wild animal procedures.

Wild animals are used for research and management purposes in Sweden and throughout the world. Animals are often subjected to similar procedures and risks of compromised welfare from capture, anesthesia, handling, sampling, marking, and sometimes selective removal. The interpretation of the protection of animals used for scientific purposes in Sweden is based on the EU Directive 2010/63/EU. The purpose of animal use, irrespective if the animal is suffering or not, decides the classification as a research animal, according to Swedish legislation. In Sweden, like in several other European countries, the legislation differs between research and management. Whereas, animal research is generally well-defined and covered in the legislation, wildlife management is not. The protection of wild animals differs depending on the procedure they are subjected to, and how they are classified. In contrast to wildlife management activities, research projects have to implement the 3Rs and must undergo ethical reviews and official animal welfare controls. It is often difficult to define the dividing line between the two categories, e.g., when marking for identification purposes. This gray area creates uncertainty and problems beyond animal welfare, e.g., in Sweden, information that has been collected during management without ethical approval should not be published. The legislation therefore needs to be harmonized. To ensure consistent ethical and welfare assessments for wild animals at the hands of humans, and for the benefit of science and management, we suggest that both research and management procedures are assessed by one single Animal Ethics Committee with expertise in the 3Rs, animal welfare, wildlife population health and One Health. We emphasize the need for increased and improved official animal welfare control, facilitated by compatible legislation and a similar ethical authorization process for all wild animal procedures.

Frontmatter -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- 1 Introduction: Working for the (hu)man in the tourism industry -- Part 1: Theoretical considerations -- 2 Conceptualizing non-human animals as "workers" within the tourism industry -- 3 Redefining the work of working animals in the tourism industry: An animal-centric reflection -- 4 Working donkeys in northwestern Mexico: Urban identity and tourism resources -- 5 Animal dark tourism in Mexico: Bulls performing their own slaughter -- 6 Farm animals' participation in tourism experiences: A time for proper respect -- Part 3: Value-added work -- 7 Animals as tourism stakeholders: Huskies, reindeer, and horses working in Lapland -- 8 Distributed leadership in tourism experiences: Russian sled dogs and Icelandic horses leading the way -- 9 A working holiday: From home to destination with a guide dog -- 10 The donkeys of Santorini: Workers or slaves? -- Part 4: Hidden labor -- 11 Monkey see, monkey do: The work of primates in Costa Rican sanctuaries -- 12 The greening of polar bears: Lively commodities in a climate change economy -- 13 "Cute, but get up and work!": The biophilia hypothesis in tourists' linguistic interactions with pandas -- 14 Working animal research: An agenda for the future -- 15 Afterword: On tourism, animals, and suffering – lessons from Aeschylus' Oresteia -- List of contributors -- List of figures -- Index