Refining Animal Experiments: The First Brazilian Regulation on Animal Experimentation

Abstract

The very first law on animal experimentation has been approved recently in Brazil, and now is part of a set of the legal instruments that profile the Brazilian government's attitude toward the use of animals in experiments. Law 11794/08 establishes a new legal instrument that will guide new methods of conduct for ethics committees, researchers and representatives of animal protection societies. This comment aims to analyse critically the implications that this law brings to Brazilian reality. The link between it and the Russell & Burch's Three Rs concept is defined, and certain problems are identified. The conclusion is that the body of the law emphasises the refinement of animal experiments, but gives little importance to the principles of reduction and replacement.