Animal ethics

Question 1

housing and care

Answer 1

between tests, animals should be housed with enough space to move freely with sufficient food and water.
social animals should be in a social setting

Question 2

anaesthesia and euthanasia

Answer 2

animals should be protected from pain if they undergo any surgical procedure.
they should be euthanised if suffering from enduring pain or are able to function adequately

Question 3

ethics and legislation

Answer 3

if animals are confined, harmed, or in pain, suffering should be minimised.
researchers should ensure that the means justify the ends (using Bateson’s decision cube / cost-benefit analysis)
costs to the animal must be justified by scientific benefit of work

Question 4

number of animals

Answer 4

only the minimum number of animals required to produce valid and reliable results should be used.

Question 5

wild animals

Answer 5

disturbance to free-living animals should be minimised

Question 6

suppliers

Answer 6

all captive-bred animals should be obtained from Home Office registered supplier to ensure malpractice does not occur

Question 7

isolation and crowding

Answer 7

when caging animals, the researchers should consider ways to reduce potential distress

Question 8

rewarding and deprivation

Answer 8

when planning deprivation studies, researchers should consider the normal feeding or drinking patterns of the animals, dependent upon the species, age etc.
when studying reinforcement, if may be necessary to deprive an animal of food, yet offering the animal preferred food as a reward / reinforcement may be an alternative.