Ethical and Welfare Implications of the Acquisition and Transport of Non-human Primates for Use in Research and Testing

Abstract

Assessment of the ethical and welfare implications of any laboratory animal use should encompass the entire life-history of the animals concerned, including their acquisition and transport. This is particularly important in the case of non-human primates, because the acquisition of some species involves capture from the wild, inadequate husbandry, and/or lengthy, multistaged travel from the country of origin to the laboratory where they are used. Thus, non-human primates endure considerable harms even before they reach the laboratory. Despite this, the information necessary to increase awareness of, and to assess, the potential harms of acquisition and transport is not readily available. This paper highlights the ethical and welfare concerns associated with these processes and makes recommendations intended to reduce their impact on welfare. The information presented is collated from a recent report that analyses the UK trade in non-human primates for research and testing, but many of the concerns and recommendations are applicable in an international forum. The need to minimise suffering is emphasised, as is the need for critical review of the necessity and justification for all non-human primate use, a reduction in the numbers used, and the development of alternatives to replace their use.

Keywords

acquisition animal welfare breeding ethics harms husbandry non-human primates supply trade transport weaning

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Prescott

M.J.

(2001). Counting the Cost: Welfare implications of the acquisition and transport of non-human primates for use in research and testing. Horsham, UK: RSPCA.

European Commission (1999). Second Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the Statistics on the Number of Animals Used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes in the Member States of the European Union. COM (1999) 191 final. Brussels, Belgium: European Commission.

United States Department of Agriculture (2001). Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Animal Welfare Report, Fiscal Year 2000. Report of the Secretary of Agriculture to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. APHIS 41–35-071. Washington, DC, USA: USDA.

AESOP-Project (2002). Primate Trade Data. Web site http://www.aesop-project.org/Primate_Trade/Primate_Trade_1995-2001.htm (accessed 08.11.02). (Data compiled from live primate import declarations logged by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service [USFWS]'s Law Enforcement Management Information Service [LEMIS] Division.

Cyranoski

(2000). Row over fate of endangered monkeys. Nature, London 408, 280.

Baskerville

(1999). Old world monkeys. In UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory Animals, 7th Edition, Volume 1 — Terrestrial Vertebrates (ed. Poole

), pp. 611–635. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Science.

Welshman

(1999). Breeding macaques in source countries. In UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory Animals, 7th Edition, Volume 1 — Terrestrial Vertebrates (ed. Poole

), pp. 636–642. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Science.

Jones

(1996). Current Standards in Europe for the Care of Non-Human Primates in Laboratories. RSPCA and Advocates for Animals, Horsham, UK: RSPCA.

Poole

, & Thomas

A.W.

eds (1995). Primate Vaccine Evaluation Network: Recommendations, Guidelines and Information for Biomedical Research Involving Non-human Primates with Emphasis on Health Problems of Developing Countries. Brussels, Belgium: European Commission.

10.

Reinhardt

(2002). Artificial weaning of old world monkeys: benefits and costs. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 5, 151–156.

11.

International Primatological Society (1993). IPS International guidelines for the acquisition, care and breeding of nonhuman primates. Primate Report (special issue) 35.

12.

Wolfensohn

S.E.

(1997). Brief review of the scientific studies on the welfare implications of transporting primates. Laboratory Animals 31, 303–305.

13.

Buchanan-Smith

H.M.

(1997). Environmental control: an important feature of good captive callitrichid environments. In Marmosets and Tamarins in Biological and Biomedical Research (ed. Pryce

, Scott

, & Schnell

), pp. 47–53. Salisbury, UK: DSSD Imagery.

14.

Overmier

J.P.

, Patterson

, & Wielkiewicz

R.M.

(1980). Environmental contingencies as sources of stress in animals. In Coping and Health (ed. Levine

, & Ursin

), pp. 1–38. New York, USA: Plenum Press.

15.

Maas

(2000). Prepared and shipped: a multidisciplinary review of the effects of capture, handling, housing and transport on morbidity and mortality. Horsham, UK: RSPCA.

16.

European Commission (2000). Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the experience acquired by Member States since the implementation of Council Directive 95/29/EC amending Directive 91/628/EEC concerning the protection of animals during transport. COM (2000) 809 final. Brussels, Belgium: European Commission.

17.

International Air Transport Association (2000). Live Animals Regulations, 27th Edition, 1st October 2000. Montreal, Canada/Geneva, Switzerland: International Air Transport Association.