The Ethics of

1
The Ethics of Animal Research
2
Animal Testing

• Previously we looked at the use of animals in
  spaceflight to further our understanding of the
  space environment.
• The use of animals in scientific testing has
  always been, and will continue to be a
  controversial subject.

3
Animal Testing

• While controversial, it is an unavoidable fact
  that animal research has allowed the development
  of medicines and vaccines, surgical techniques
  and advanced scientific understanding in many
  areas.

4
Animal Testing

• It is estimated that between 50 and 100 million
  animals are used in research each year.
• Some are purpose bred for testing but many are
  still caught in the wild.

5
Measuring Pain and Suffering in Animal Testing

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines a
  painful procedure as one that would reasonably
  be expected to cause more than slight or
  momentary pain or distress in a human being to
  which the procedure was applied
• Do you think this is a valid way to measure
  suffering in animal tests?

6
Measuring Pain and Suffering in Animal Testing

• In the UK experiments are classified as mild,
  moderate or substantial in the amount of
  suffering they cause an animal.
• A fourth category of unclassified is used when
  the animal is anaesthetized but killed before
  regaining consciousness.

7
Measuring Pain and Suffering in Animal Testing

• In December 2001 the breakdown of experimental
  licenses was
• 39 mild
• 55 moderate
• 2 substantial
• 4 unclassified
• Does this seem a reasonable breakdown to you?

8
Is Animal Testing Morally Right?

• The argument between pro-animal testing parties
  and opponents to animal testing hinges on whether
  it is ethical.

9
Is Animal Testing Morally Right?

• Advocates for animal testing say
• Human life has greater intrinsic value than
  animal life
• Legislation protects all lab animals from
  cruelty or mistreatment
• Millions of animals are killed every year for
  food, is medical research not a more worthy death
• Few animals feel pain and are killed before they
  suffer

10
Is Animal Testing Morally Right?

• Opponents to animal testing say
• Animals have as much right to live as humans
• Strict controls have not prevented some animals
  being abused, though such instances are rare
• Deaths for research are unnecessary
• Animals suffer while they are locked up and how
  do we know when they do and dont feel pain

11
The Three Rs

• The guiding principles for the use of animals in
  research are the three Rs
• Replacement Use alternative, non-animal methods
  to achieve the same scientific aim
• Reduction Use statistical methods so that a
  smaller number of animals are required
• Refinement Improve the experiments so that
  animals do not suffer

12
Ethical Dilemmas

• British law requires that any new medicinal drug
  to be used on humans must undergo a substantial
  testing program including testing on at least two
  different species of live mammal.
• One of which must be a large non-rodent.
• This of course means that any company wanting to
  release a medical drug must, by law, undertake
  animal testing regardless of how they fell about
  it ethically.

13
Ethical Dilemmas

• Animal researchers say it will be impossible to
  eliminate all animal tests but scientists are
  always working on ways to minimise the suffering
  of animals and to ensure as few animals as
  possible will be required.

14
Case Study Laika

• Laika, a mixed bred dog recruited into the
  Soviet space program after being found on the
  streets of Moscow.
• Laikas mission would make her the first creature
  to orbit the Earth in an attempt to study the
  prolonged effect of weightlessness on a living
  being.

15
Case Study Laika

• Laika was 3 years old when she was launched on
  the Sputnik 2 spacecraft on November 3rd, 1957.
• She was secured in a special pressurised capsule
  3 days before launch and provided with a high
  nutrition gel for food and water.

16
Case Study Laika

• Laika experienced minimal ill effects during
  launch but her heart rate did rise to three times
  its resting rate and she appeared to be quite
  agitated, eventually calming down.
• It appeared that weightlessness alone did not
  cause major changes to the vital physiological
  functions of a living creature.
• This was good news for human spaceflight.

17
Case Study Laika

• Cabin temperature begun rapidly climbing to
  unacceptably high levels.
• Temperature control inside the capsule was
  failing.
• Between 5 and 7 hours into the flight telemetry
  showed that there were no signs of life within
  the capsule.
• Laika had died from stress and overheating,
  undoubtedly a painful and distressing death.

18
Case Study Laika

• As the world began to learn of the second
  Sputnik, no word of Laikas death was released.
• The Sputnik 2 capsule that carried Laika into
  orbit was not retrievable and it had been
  intended that Laika would die in orbit.
• But at the time the world believed that Laika may
  be recovered.

19
Case Study Laika

• Protests from animal protection groups began
  around the world.
• On November 5th a newspaper article in the New
  York Times included a report from an unnamed
  Russian scientists that the dog could not live
  much longer.
• Other articles talked about the importance of the
  information being learned by sending an animal
  into space.

20
Case Study Laika

• On November 7th Soviet scientists were still
  claiming that Laika was in good health when she
  had in fact been dead for four days.
• Eventually the truth of the dogs fate emerged
  and on November 11th the Soviets confirmed that
  Laika was dead.
• The exact cause of Laikas death remained a
  mystery for decades.

21
Case Study Laika

• The truth was not confirmed until 2002 when
  Russian scientists confirmed that Laika had died
  between 5 and 7 hours after launch due to heat
  and stress.
• Russian scientist Oleg Gazenko who worked on the
  Soviet Space Program stated that the more time
  passes, the more Im sorry about it. We did not
  learn enough to justify the death of dog.

22
Case Study Laika

• Laika became a hero to the Soviet people and
  captured the imagination of the world.
• Her flight immediately proved the near term
  capability for human spaceflight.

23
Case Study Laika

• The question of whether the sacrifice of Laika
  was justified for the progress of space
  technology is still debateable in the context of
  ethics of animal research.
• Could the flight have been postponed until
  recovery of the capsule was possible?
• The political climate and the tensions between
  the United States and the Soviet Union during the
  Space Race meant that the ethical
  considerations of the mission were not properly
  considered.

24
Case Study Discussion

• Do you think the mission was justified?
• How could the experiment have been improved?
• Was the outcome of putting the first man in space
  a valid aim for sacrificing Laika?
• Did the fact that the Russian scientists covered
  up Laikas death make the experiment more
  unethical?