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.
GreifS. & TrézT. (2000). A Verdadeira Face da Experimentação Animal: A sua saúde em perigo [The True Face of Animal Experimentation: Your Health Endangered], 81pp. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil: Sociedade Educacional “Fala Bicho”.
2.
GreekC.R. & GreekJ.S. (2000). Sacred Cows and Golden Geese: The Human Cost of Experiments on Animals, 224pp. New York, NY, USA: Continuum International Publishing Group.
3.
FelipeS.T. (2007). Ética e Experimentação Animal: Fundamentos Abolicionistas [Ethics and Animal Experimentation: Abolitionist Principles], 351pp. Florianópolis, SC, Brazil: EdUFSC.
4.
RaymundoM.M. & GoldimJ.R. (2007). O uso de animais em pesquisa científica [The use of animals in scientific research]. Revista Eletrônica da Sociedade Rio-Grandense de Bioética1, 1–8.
5.
PaixãoR.L. (2004). As comissões de ética no uso de animais [Ethics committees on animal use]. Revista do Conselho Federal de Medicina Veterinária10, 13–20.
6.
Federal Republic of Brazil (2008). Law No. 11794, 8 October, 2008. Brasília, Brazil: Diário Oficial da União, Year CXLV, No.196, October 9th, 2008.
7.
CEUA PUC-RS (undated). Regulamento do CEUA [Ethics Committee on Animal Use — Internal Guidelines]. Porto Alegre, Brazil: CEUA PUC-RS (Comitê de Ética Para o Uso de Animais, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul). Available at: http://www3.pucrs.br/pucrs/files/adm/prppg/regulamento_ceua.pdf (Accessed 01.06.10).
8.
CEUA UFSC (undated). CEUA — Regimento [Ethics Committee on Animal Use — Internal Guidelines]. Santa Catarina, Brazil: CEUA UFSC (Comitê de Ética Para o Uso de Animais, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina). Available at: http://prpe.ufsc.br/comissoes/ceua/ceua-regimento (Accessed 01.06.10).
RezendeA.H., PeluzioM.C.G. & SabarenseC.M. (2008). Experimentação animal: Ética e legislação brasileira [Animal experimentation: Ethics and the Brazilian legislation]. Revista de Nutrição21, 237–242.
11.
MarquesR.G., MoralesM.M. & PetroianuA. (2009). Brazilian law for scientific use of animals. Acta Cirúrgica Brasileira24, 69–74.
MachadoC.J.S., FilipeckiA.T.P. & TeixeiraM. (2009). Current Brazilian law on animal experiments. Science324, 1643–1644.
14.
CazarinK.C.C., CorrêaC.L. & ZambroneF.A.D. (2004). Redução, refinamento e substituição do uso de animais em estudos toxicológicos: Uma abordagem atual [Reduction, refinement and replacement of animal use in toxicology studies: A contemporary approach]. Revista Brasileira de Ciências Farmacêuticas40, 289–299.
15.
CapaldoT. (2004). The psychological effects on students of using animals in ways that they see as ethically, morally or religiously wrong. ATLA32, 525–531.
16.
BalcombeJ. (2003). Assessment of alternatives in education. In From Guinea Pig to Computer Mouse: Alternative Methods for a Humane, Progressive Education, 2nd edn (ed. JukesN. & ChiuiaM.), p. 40–53. Leicester, UK: InterNICHE.
17.
De VilliersR. & MonkM. (2005). The first cut is the deepest: Reflections on the state of animal dissection in biology education. Journal of Curriculum Studies37, 583–600.
