The role of ‘public opinion’ in the UK animal research debate

P Hobson-West

doi:10.1136/jme.2009.030817

Responses

Paper

Research ethics

The role of ‘public opinion’ in the UK animal research debate

Compose a Response to This Article

Compose Response

Title *

Author Information

Contributors
First Name and Middle Initial * First or given name, e.g. 'Peter'. Last Name * Your last, or family, name, e.g. 'MacMoody'. Email Address * Your email address, e.g. higgs-boson@gmail.com Occupation * Your role and/or occupation, e.g. 'Orthopedic Surgeon'. Affiliation * Your organization or institution (if applicable), e.g. 'Royal Free Hospital'.

Statement of Competing Interests

Competing interests? *

Yes

Please describe the competing interests

PLEASE NOTE:

A rapid response is a moderated but not peer reviewed online response to a published article in a BMJ journal; it will not receive a DOI and will not be indexed unless it is also republished as a Letter, Correspondence or as other content. Find out more about rapid responses.
We intend to post all responses which are approved by the Editor, within 14 days (BMJ Journals) or 24 hours (The BMJ), however timeframes cannot be guaranteed. Responses must comply with our requirements and should contribute substantially to the topic, but it is at our absolute discretion whether we publish a response, and we reserve the right to edit or remove responses before and after publication and also republish some or all in other BMJ publications, including third party local editions in other countries and languages
Our requirements are stated in our rapid response terms and conditions and must be read. These include ensuring that: i) you do not include any illustrative content including tables and graphs, ii) you do not include any information that includes specifics about any patients,iii) you do not include any original data, unless it has already been published in a peer reviewed journal and you have included a reference, iv) your response is lawful, not defamatory, original and accurate, v) you declare any competing interests, vi) you understand that your name and other personal details set out in our rapid response terms and conditions will be published with any responses we publish and vii) you understand that once a response is published, we may continue to publish your response and/or edit or remove it in the future.
By submitting this rapid response you are agreeing to our terms and conditions for rapid responses and understand that your personal data will be processed in accordance with those terms and our privacy notice.

I agree to and have read the terms and conditions for rapid responses and BMJ Privacy Notice *

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Vertical Tabs

Other responses

Jump to comment:

Public opinion is a key component to debate on animal experiments
Michelle Thew
Published on: 18 May 2017

Published on: 18 May 2017
Public opinion is a key component to debate on animal experiments
- Michelle Thew
Dear Sir

The article by Dr Hobson-West (The role of public opinion in the UK animal research debate) contains an interesting discussion about the extent to which public opinion should guide the ethical debate about animal research (and indeed other controversial issues).

Our view is that it is a key component in the debate. The cost:benefit test which lies at the heart of the UK legislation is a value-lad...
Show More

Dear Sir

The article by Dr Hobson-West (The role of public opinion in the UK animal research debate) contains an interesting discussion about the extent to which public opinion should guide the ethical debate about animal research (and indeed other controversial issues).

Our view is that it is a key component in the debate. The cost:benefit test which lies at the heart of the UK legislation is a value-laden judgement, albeit one informed by scientific knowledge. Is it ever right to inflict physical suffering on an innocent individual (human or non-human), without consent, when he or she is not intended to benefit from the suffering? How much suffering (if any) is acceptable? Does it depend on the species and, if so, why? Should it depend on whether a disease in question is life-threatening or debilitating?

Should society if necessary just do without certain products, such that we do not need to worry about their safety? What about fundamental research, from which the benefits are by definition speculative. Should the researcher be required to demonstrate that there is a realistic chance that his use of animals will lead to significant societal benefit? There is no arithmetical formula to be applied to these ethical questions. In a mature democracy, how they are answered should reflect public opinion. They cannot be the sole preserve of researchers, and corporations should certainly not be allowed to set the ethical boundaries.

But whatever account is taken of public opinion, there can, surely, be no question that it should be as informed as possible. The article fails to address this key question. Animal experiments are conducted under conditions of great secrecy, with researchers deciding what (if anything) to put in the public domain.

This is the wrong approach. Given that animal experiments would, but for the special protection accorded by the law, otherwise constitute a criminal offence, the default position should be that everything should be publicly available, save for personal and genuinely commercially sensitive information. In that way, public opinion can be as informed as possible, and the ethical settlement will reflect the views of the populace as a whole rather than a self-appointed elite.

Michelle Thew
Chief Executive
BUAV
Conflict of Interest:
None declared
Show Less

Conflict of Interest:
None declared.
- Back to top

Main menu

Plain text

PLEASE NOTE:

Vertical Tabs

Other responses

Jump to comment:

Conflict of Interest:

Log in using your username and password

Main menu

Log in using your username and password

You are here

Plain text

PLEASE NOTE:

Vertical Tabs

Other responses

Jump to comment:

Conflict of Interest:

Read the full text or download the PDF:

Log in using your username and password

Other content recommended for you