• Question: Do you harm animals? and why?- Katy and Courtney

    Asked by Katy and Courtney to Andrew, Dilip, Emma, John, Ruth on 8 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Andrew Quigley

      Andrew Quigley answered on 8 Nov 2015:


      I only use milk in my research so there are no animals are harmed at all!

    • Photo: John Gleeson

      John Gleeson answered on 8 Nov 2015:


      Nope. Not at all. I do however use animals in my research. But we never cause harm to the animal. In animal research we must pass an ethical board internally, then a government ethics process and then we also have to take a course and pass an exam to ensure that we follow the principles of 3Rs. They are Replace (if we don’t need need an animal study, replace), Reduce (we must ensure that we reduce the numbers where possible) and Refinement (this means we must refine the study to ensure that least amount of discomfort or harm comes to the animal). I’m an absolute animal lover and I’ve cats, dogs, bunnies, chickens and fish. So when carrying out my research I make sure my animals (rats) aren’t harmed in any way shape or form. But unfortunately as I’m working on high blood pressure (hypertension) this can’t be done with cells in a lab nor can I round up a load of students on campus.

    • Photo: Dilip Rai

      Dilip Rai answered on 9 Nov 2015:


      No I don’t. I have avoided all my research opportunities to do with animal studies.

    • Photo: Emma Feeney

      Emma Feeney answered on 12 Nov 2015:


      I personally don’t. I’m vegetarian for ethical reasons, so I really couldn’t do research that involves harming animals. But, I know that sometimes, research with animals is necessary, to tell us how a potential lifesaving drug works, or other things. As John says above, there are very strict guidelines (the 3 Rs) about when and how animals can be used in research, but certainly it is an ethical dilemma.

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