The Utility of Basic Animal Research

Abstract

Justification of use of animals in research requires both that 1) it is ethically permissible to harm animals for human gain and 2) animal use actually produces useful knowledge. In this paper the author, a laboratory animal veterinarian, reviews arguments that animal research does or does not produce useful knowledge, and discusses frameworks for making such assessments. He concludes that basic animal research can in some cases produce valuable knowledge of relevance to human medicine.

Keywords: animal welfare, ethics, laboratory animal