Scientists to open up on animal use
Transparency and ethics pledge is a first outside Europe
Scientists have pledged to be more open about how they use animals in research and teaching, in the first agreement of its kind outside Europe. The Openness Agreement on Animal Research and Teaching in New Zealand, announced at a Queenstown conference yesterday, aims to ensure the public are well-informed about the often contentious work.
That includes the role animal research plays in scientific discovery, how it is regulated, what researchers do to promote animal welfare, and what ethical considerations are involved.
The pledge commits its signatories — which include all major NZ universities — to improve communication with tangata whenua, and to report on progress annually. A leading anti-vivisection group called the move an “excellent first step”.
Animals have long been part of research, testing and teaching in New Zealand. In 2019 alone, more than 315,000 animals — including mice, rats, fish, guinea pigs, sheep and cattle — were manipulated for scientific purposes.
Although the research had little to no impact on nearly three-quarters of those animals, a further 136,679 animals were bred but killed without being used — something researchers tried to mitigate through targeted and on-demand breeding.
Any research activities involving animals had to comply with the Animal Welfare Act, and those that required manipulation couldn’t be carried out without approval by an animal ethics committee.
“Public confidence in animal research depends on the scientific community taking part in an ongoing conversation about why, and how animals are used,” said Otago University’s Professor Pat Cragg, who chairs the Australian and New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research and Teaching (ANZCCART).
“Through signing this openness agreement, the signatory organisations have committed to having this conversation with the public.”
Among those 21 institutes that had signed up were AgResearch, Niwa, Auckland Zoo, the Malaghan Institute, the Department of Conservation, Royal Society Te Apa¯rangi, AUT and Auckland, Massey, Victoria, Waikato, Canterbury and Otago universities — the latter of which just opened a $50m new facility for animal research.