It seems both sides of the debate can agree on one thing - there is no alternative to animal testing - but for very different reasons.
Barbara Davies, Communications Director for the Research Defence Society (RDS)
Robin Webb, Press Officer for Animal Liberation Front
(ALF)
The alternative '3 Rs'
Replacement
Animals are substituted, either by methods that don't involve animals at all (absolute replacement) or by those that use only the cells or tissues of animals (relative replacement).
Reduction
Replacement isn't always an option. Some testing just can't be done without animals at this time but researchers can work to reduce the number of animals used. It can be possible to use far fewer animals and still get valid results.
Refinement
For those animals that do undergo testing, scientists may refine their methods to lessen or eliminate pain, distress, or suffering and to make the animals more comfortable.
Success story
Pregnancy tests used to involve injecting a woman's urine into a rabbit. During early pregnancy the urine contains a raised level of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), which would then cause "corpora hemorrhagica" (bulging masses) in the female rabbit's ovaries. The only way to observe this happening though was to dissect the rabbit, leading to its death.
Now, of course a woman can buy a pregnancy test in any chemists which tests her urine for certain chemicals--the rabbits have been replaced.
