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Primate welfare standards in EU research
A report on Current Standards in Europe for the Care of Non-human Primates in Laboratories was recently produced by two UK animal protection organisations: the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) and Advocates for Animals. Whilst both organisations are opposed to painful experiments on animals, they both take a realistic and constructive approach, seeking to promote the three R's and campaigning for higher welfare standards in laboratories.
The basis of the report is quite simple. It reviews the existing European legislation covering the care and use of laboratory primates in the EU Directive 86/609/EEC and the very similar Council of Europe Convention ETS 123. Apart from setting basic requirements for the cage sizes for primates, these contain few additional guidelines for the husbandry and care of these animals.
The report examines current standards of best practice in laboratory primate husbandry and care, as set out in the following publications:
- International Primatological Society - International guidelines for the acquisition, care and breeding of nonhuman primates
- Primate Vaccine Evaluation Network - Recommendations, guidelines and information for biomedical research involving non-human primates with emphasis on health problems of developing countries
- The Berlin Workshop on the Accommodation of Laboratory Animals in Accordance with Animal Welfare Requirements
The standards contained in these documents considerably exceed the legal requirements. Since the Directive and Convention were written in 1985/6 there has been considerable evolution in our understanding of captive primate housing and concepts of best practice in this area have advanced. These two pieces of European legislation were attempting to set out basic housing requirements to be met across all their Member States and it is understood that they would represent a minimum standard. The report argues that, since current standards of best practice in this area are so much higher, the minimum standards in EU law should be increased.
The report has been carefully written and is worthy of serious reading.
At the same time that this report was released, Advocates for Animals and the RSPCA also produced a supplement, criticising the standards of primate housing at the Biological Primate Research Centre (BPRC) at Rijswijk in the Netherlands. This supplement and an accompanying video, taken by an animal rights activist who visited BPRC, were released to the UK press, several MEP's, and were widely distributed within the Eurogroup for Animal Welfare. It was alleged that macaques were being singly housed in cages which were inadequate for the animals' behavioural needs.
The RSPCA and Advocates for Animals used BPRC as an example of the fact that an institution meeting the standards required by the Directive and Convention is still not meeting the standards of best practice as set out in the documents above and supported by the European Primate Resources Network (EUPREN).
Dr Ton Kos, the Deputy Director of BPRC, commented "Eighty percent of the criticism in the supplement are correct and we told them this. We also told them that we are in the process of building new facilities which will exceed existing standards. We recognised this problem a long time ago and we are doing something about it. Through the EUPREN initiative we are also actively involved in improving primate welfare on a scientific basis across Europe."
"We plan to have our new facilities ready in two years and in the meantime we are trying to improve the situation of the animals in the old facility as much as possible. However, if we invest all our funding in the old facilities, we will not be able to build the new facilities to the high standards we want. We are looking to a long term strategy, not a short term solution."
"It is a pity that the animal rights activist felt that he had to trick his way into the BPRC to take the video film. We have an open door policy and would welcome him in anyway."