Reproduction in Domestic Animals

Reprod Dom Anim 43 (Suppl. 2), 8–14 (2008); doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0531.2008.01137.xISSN 0936-6768Towards Ethically Improved Animal Experimentation in the Study of AnimalReproductionD Blache 1 , GB Martin 1 and SK Maloney 21 UWA Institute of Agriculture M082, The University of Western Australia; 2 Physiology-Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences,The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, AustraliaContentsThe ethics of animal-based research is a continuing area ofdebate, but ethical research protocols do not prevent scientificprogress. In this paper, we argue that our current knowledge ofthe factors that affect reproductive processes providesresearchers with a solid foundation upon which they canconduct more ethical research and simultaneously producedata of higher quality. We support this argument by showinghow a deep understanding of the genetics, nutrition andtemperament of our experimental animals can improve compliancewith two of the ‘3 Rs’, reduction and refinement,simply by offering better control over the variance in ourexperimental model. The outcome is a better experimentaldesign, on both ethical and scientific grounds.IntroductionReproduction has a long history as a field of researchand, if anything, there is actually an acceleration ofinterest in the main goals of better reproductivetechnology and better fundamental understanding ofthe biological processes. There is little to distinguishbetween these goals because reproductive technologiesare frequently essential as tools for basic research, andbasic research underpins reproductive technology. Indealing with the topic of this paper, we will illustrate ourarguments primarily with examples for farmed ruminants,particularly sheep. We will not dwell on distinctionsbetween applied and fundamental research despitethe focus on production animals.Over the last 200 years, we have seen an increase inthe concerns of society about the ethics of animal-basedresearch, particularly the potential suffering of experimentalanimals. There has been intense discussion of theethical dilemmas arising generally from the use ofanimals and this has led to a utilitarian framework,the cost ⁄ benefit analysis, for ethical assessment anddecision-making. Scientists have no trouble arguing thebenefits of animal experimentation and augmenting thedenominator of a cost ⁄ benefit analysis. However froman animal welfare viewpoint, the best way to decreasethe cost ⁄ benefit ratio is to decrease the numerator, i.e. todecrease the cost of experimentation to the subjectanimals.In this paper, we are not aiming to provide a recipefor improving the welfare of animals used in research,but to show that ‘ethical science is good science’(Somerville 2007). We will argue that, in the field ofreproduction, our current knowledge of the factors thataffect reproductive processes provides researchers with asolid foundation upon which they can comply withethical guidelines and simultaneously produce data ofhigher quality. This paper is therefore not a manifestofor animal rights or animal liberation. We will onlydiscuss ethics and how to be ethical whilst doing betterscience. We will begin by defining ethics and discussingwhy it has become more important and relevant inanimal research. We will briefly review the ‘Principle of3 Rs’ and how it should be applied to research inreproduction, for which we will need to summarize ourknowledge of the complex of processes that control thereproductive system. Finally, we will describe thepotential for improving the ethics of research in reproductionby considering the models used, particularly thegenetics, nutrition and temperament of the experimentalanimals. We will illustrate most of our points usinginformation about sheep because it is the focus of ourstudies, but the principles are broad so can be applied tomost species.Ethics and Animal-based Research?Everyday we make decisions about what we are willingor not willing to do. Most of such decisions are purelypersonal in that they do not impact on others. When ourdecisions impact on others, they are reasoned andassessed, at least in part, on moral grounds (LaFolette2007). When we plan experiments using animals, ourdecisions cannot be based on personal choice because, asa society, we have decided that animals are not objects,so we need to engage in moral debate to decide whetheran experiment is worth doing. Ethics is a philosophicalprocess involving critical evaluation of our actions andleads to moral truth (morally right or wrong; Bryantet al. 2005; Mepham 2005), so it deals with the moraldimension of decision-making.A major point to consider with respect to ethics is thatmoral decisions are taken in reference to ethical theories.Why? Because ethical theories, such as consequentialismor deontology, provide ground rules for thinking aboutmoral issues. Ethical theory, like any theory, provides aframework for analysing a question or fact critically.Animal research is mainly discussed in the context of theutilitarian theory, deontology being only used sparsely.The utilitarian theory, in short, leads to an assessment ofthe ethical value of a given experiment based oncost ⁄ benefit analysis (Vallentyne 2007). It is not alwayseasy to estimate accurately both the cost and the benefit,especially when considering experiments outside thelaboratory or with long-term consequences (Schmidtz2007). However, the benefits of animal experimentationcan be, for example, societal (medical breakthrough),scientific (new knowledge) or educational (training ofÓ 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation Ó 2008 Blackwell Verlag