The suffering of laboratory animals - its nature, level and duration - is a serious concern. In order to monitor progress in reducing this suffering through advances in the implementation of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement), meaningful and accurate information must be available on the level and nature of suffering actually experienced by each animal.
Despite some progress in identifying better ways of reporting this, such information is currently not available.
The RSPCA believes that UK legislation should require retrospective assessment of procedures of all levels of severity, and that this information should be reported in the annual Home Office statistics.
For more information, read the 'laboratory suffering' animal welfare indicator.
