Animal research
Research using animals has made an important contribution to advances in medicine and surgery, which have brought major improvements in the health of human beings and animals. Much basic research on physiological, pathological and therapeutic processes still requires the use of animals in experiments. Such research has provided, and continues to provide, the essential foundation for improvements in medical knowledge, education and practice. Research using animals will continue to be essential for the conquest of many of the unsolved problems in understanding and treating diseases of the musculoskeletal system.
The Arthritis Research Campaign is committed to the priniciples of reduction, replacement and refinement in animal studies but will support the use of live animals in research where there is no alternative. This research must be fully compliant with Home Office legislation, must have been approved by a local ethics committee and must have been subject to rigorous independent peer review. Applicants are expected to provide full justification for the use of live animals and what other possible approaches have been considered, and provide evidence that the number and species of animals requested and the procedures to be used are the most appropriate, especially if the animals are to be a model for a human physiological or pathological condition.
