Rather than euthanize all laboratory animals after experimenting with them, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is allowing shelters and animal shelters to adopt the creatures and give them a second chance at life.
Monique Richards, a spokeswoman for the FDA, confirmed this change in a statement to The Hill, writing that the agency “has an internal policy for placement of research animals after the completion of the study.”
The new measure allows the “adoption, transfer and removal” of healthy animals to shelters and sanctuaries. In the past, it was common practice to euthanize laboratory animals after use in experiments, even when they were healthy. The new rule applies to animals such as dogs, cats and rabbits and some farm animals.
“The November 2019 guideline expressly establishes the eligibility criteria for adoption, retirement and transfer. This is not a procedural change, but rather a recently approved internal standard guideline developed to provide general support to improve and promote harmonization of FDA animal research activities, “Richards clarified, adding that the policy has not been made. public, but the guideline is . “
What is not very clear is who can adopt laboratory animals or if they are available to the general public.
The FDA uses animals to test drugs, vaccines and medical devices for safety before they can be tested in human trials, but critics say it is time to ban the practice altogether. According to the FDA, animal tests are necessary to determine how much of a drug is absorbed into the blood or how quickly the effects wear off or if there is a toxic impact on the body as a drug breaks down, for example.
For its part, the National Institutes of Health has also modified its policy in this regard, allowing the removal of animals after testing is completed. In 2018, the US Department of Veterans Affairs established a policy that allows dogs to be adopted after completing their lab work. According to the group, more than 99% of the animals used in experiments are rats and mice, but they sometimes use larger animals to test devices like a pacemaker.
Alternatives
Animal testing is an extremely controversial issue, and not just from an ethical perspective . Animal test results do not always translate in the same way in humans, which means that it is not a method we can blindly trust either. Fortunately, alternatives to animal testing are emerging, but even so, it may take some time before we can eliminate the practice completely, something that society has demanded for years. Until then, allowing animals to enjoy their lives after their passage through the laboratory seems much more ethical than euthanizing them.
A slow process
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), more than 792,000 animals were used in all federal animal tests in fiscal year 2017. In 2018, 1,929 animals were used or bred for FDA experiments, and at least 27% of them experienced some pain or distress, according to agency records. The new policy is a small step toward what some lawmakers hope is possible: greater protection for animals.
