Ten Top Tips for Animal Ethics Application Success
5. Justifying and minimising animal numbers
The number of animals requested for use in a project must be clearly justified in terms of statistical considerations and/or further requirements in the experimental design. This number must be definitive and not an approximation*. Justification of animal numbers needs to be made from the point of view of gaining data rather than simply representing what is achievable in terms of work schedule or financial considerations.
The application should therefore include, as appropriate, statistical power analysis or an explanation of numbers based on requirements for tissue sampling, logistics/equipment etc. Contrary to what researchers may think, the AEC might ask for more animals to be used in order that the results obtained are more meaningful, and less waste is caused in the long term. Requested numbers should include pilot and control animals, and should explain what animals are for contingencies at each stage of the experiment. Total numbers of animals should be reconciled across text, tables, sub-totals and attachments, as there are often discrepancies in applications.
* An exception to this may be ecology projects where exact numbers are dependent upon the success of trapping.
Further resources:
- See our A-Z of animal welfare for guidance on experimental design and statistics
Refinement, Replacement and Reduction
AECs need to be convinced that serious thought has gone into the optimisation and minimisation of animal use, and the replacement of animals in projects (the “3 Rs” of Refinement, Replacement and Reduction). One area that is traditionally weak in applications is the identification of potential alternatives to animal use. Committees and their institutions are keen to hear when such alternatives are realised, and this is an opportunity for researchers to share their achievements in this area with the AEC. If the use of alternatives is unsuitable due to the nature of the project, researchers need to explain why in terms that go beyond stock justification.
Further resources:
- The Information Portal of the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research [UK] website includes sections on many aspects of 3Rs practice
- Effective searching for the 3Rs (Victorian Bureau of Animal Welfare)
- A guide to searching for alternatives to the use of laboratory animals (Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments, UK)
- The European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) has an extensive Database Service on Alternative Methods to Animal Experimentation
- The Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights in Education Database contains thousands of alternatives to animals for many levels of medical education, focusing on computer modelling and in vitro methods.
- The Three Rs section of the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) website provides easily accessible, useful, and relevant information and resources on the 3Rs.
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