Animal testing is ethical unless the experiment violates ethical and legal guidelines

National Committee for Research Ethics in Science and Technology (NENT) has prepared ethical guidelines for the use of animals in research.^[1] According to NENT, there are a set of principles (known as “the three Rs”) that scientists are encouraged to follow in order to reduce the impact of research on animals. These include: 1. Reduction: The researchers must reduce the number of animals used in experiments as much as possible. To do that, they may improve the techniques of data analysis or share information with other researchers. 2. Refinement: The researchers must refine the experiment to reduce the suffering of animals. They may use less invasive techniques, better medical care, and better living conditions. 3. Replacement: The researchers must replace experiments on animals with alternative techniques, if possible. The alternative techniques can include experimenting on cell structures instead of whole animals, using computer models or epidemiological studies, and studying human volunteers.^[2] There are also legal obligations for researchers to follow while conducting animal experimentation. They differ from country to country. For example, in Australia, it is unlawful to use animals in the skin and eye irritancy tests as well as in the testing of sunscreen products.^[3] As long as the researchers follow these guidelines, animal suffering is minimized. Therefore, animal research is ethical on the condition that the researchers comply with the ethical and legal guidelines.