Question: Do you think laboratory animals have a good quality of life at the moment?

Joanna Cruden answered on 12 Jun 2012:

This is an interesting question and it has more than one answer, I firmly believe that laboratory animals in the UK have the best quality of life that we can offer them in the situation they find themselves because;

• We have some of the strictest laws in the world protecting animals in research.
• There are many groups both internally (within the industry) and externally (like the RSPCA)
that work hard to ensure we are giving the animals a good quality of life

I do feel that in some countries the welfare could be improved and raised but those countries are now under pressure to raise the welfare of the animals.

From a scientific point of view it is not good science to have animals in poor conditions or who are distressed and frightened as it adds variables to results which means the scientist won’t know if the compound or test-environment is what has caused a reaction from the animal both physically or physiology, and emotionally or if it is because it has a poor quality of life.

So from both a research and welfare point of view it is important they have a good quality of life and while I believe the animals within the UK and in many other countries do, but there is always things we can do to improve the quality of their life which is why researching their behaviour and having a better understanding of their needs is important. We should never stop trying to find ways to improve their lives in and out of laborotories.