Marc Bekoff writes a response to The Scientist article 'Time to abandon the Three Rs':

'Keep the Three Rs and Get Rid of the Three As'

"Oh, I do it in the name of science."

We hear that over and over again. Stuart Derbyshire's essay "Time to Abandon the Three Rs" is one of the most uninformed and misguided essays I've read in ages. While he and I surely disagree about the use of animals in biomedical research, his reasoning, or lack thereof, leaves me almost speechless, but not so much that I can't pen a few words.

Please, lecturer Derbyshire, tell us how animal research advances the "cause of human freedom." Perhaps you mean freedom to do whatever we want for our own ends to animals and earth without guidelines or oversight?

How arrogant, autonomous, and authoritarian can one be?

I personally am happy that no scientists I know who do horrible things to animals would ever be so cavalier as Derbyshire. They lament their actions but nonetheless are able to continue, how, I don't frankly understand.

While some researchers "pledge to uphold the three Rs" surely many don't. There is enormous waste of money and of animals' lives in the rush to find a treatment or cure for this or that disease. And there are numerous false hopes, and still huge numbers of people continue to suffer or die even when drugs or other treatments have been previously tested "successfully" on animals.

And Derbyshire conveniently ignores the plethora of data that show that animals who are treated humanely and who are not stressed produce "better data." This of course doesn't justify animal research but does call attention to the fact that much of the information that is collected is compromised and useless because of a lack of care for the animals who are being used.

Yes, perhaps the three Rs do call attention to the fact that animal welfare is very important, as it should be, and that there is a "confession of guilt" on the part of some researchers. Good. As long as invasive research continues we should apologize to each and every individual animal who finds himself or herself being infected, injected, or otherwise treated and mistreated, we should look them in the eye if we can, and we should look for non-animal alternatives that not only are more ethical but also better models of human disease.

Furthermore, there doesn't seem to be any lack of people who are willing to harm animals for human ends so what's Derbyshire worried about? Having to waste precious time fill out forms or having to pass research protocols by a group of people who can comment on it? Having to share what we do with the public who not only are interested but who also pay for it? Sorry, but science and scientists shouldn't operate in a vacuum and we shouldn't allow them to. We scientists all have great responsibilities to be accessible to those who care outside of the ivory tower.

The general public increasingly calls science into question and it's what I call the "three As" attitude that they're sick and tired of - the Arrogant, Autonomous, and Authoritarian attitude of people who want to be above it all. I'm a scientist, I love what I do, and I think it's time to respect and lay off the animals who find themselves being used for solely human ends. We're not the only show in town.

Essays like Derbyshire's only causes more discord when we should be seeking harmony. One of my favorite bumper stickers comes to mind: "Back off man, I'm a scientist!" Let's not back off at all. Let's ask the hard questions and have science and scientists come clean. Indeed, it not anti-science to do this and will only make for better science, better data, and a more compassionate world.

Marc Bekoff
Professor of Biology
University of Colorado
Boulder

Source: article 'Time to abandon the Three Rs'
Author: Marc Bekoff

Link: Letters to The Scientist -e-mail address
Link: Marc Bekoff, Professor of Biology


Other EVANA-articles about this topic:
UK: Drug trial horror - the official interim report (en)

Vivisection: Illnesses Raise Drug-Safety Questions (en)

UK: Drug trial mishap shows need for human-based medicine (en)

PCRM: New Journal Article Urges Use of Animal Serum-Free Media for Growing Live Cells (en)

EU: Reducing animal testing: (en)

Covance Drops Lawsuit Against PETA (en)