Authority

• The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) Ethics Committee for Research on Animals (ECRA) was established as set out in its Research Ethics Policy and Terms of Reference (ToR).
• Its authority has been conferred upon it by the SAMRC Board.

Terms of Reference

• These guidelines apply to the use of sentient animals for research, teaching and testing within the SAMRC.
• They are applicable to all SAMRC staff that are occupationally involved with the production, care and use of laboratory animals, and to scientists and educators whose research, teaching and testing on animals is done in collaboration with SAMRC staff or with financial or other support from the SAMRC and its employees.
• Studies that may result in severe or chronic pain or significant alterations in the animals’ ability to maintain normal physiology, or adequately respond to stressors, should include descriptions of appropriate humane endpoints or provide science-based justification for not using a particular, commonly accepted humane endpoint. Veterinary consultation must occur when pain or distress is beyond the level anticipated in the protocol description or when interventional control is not possible. The “three R” principles, introduced by Russell and Burch (1959)1, of Replacement, Reduction and Refinement should be applied. The values of these principles are as follows:

Replacement refers to methods that avoid using animals.  The term includes absolute replacements (i.e. replacing animals with inanimate systems such as computer programs) as well as relative replacements (i.e. replacing animals such as vertebrates with animals that are lower on the phylogenetic scale or by cell culture).

Reduction involves strategies for obtaining comparable levels of information from the use of fewer animals or for maximizing the information obtained from a given number of animals (without increasing pain or distress) so that in the long run fewer animals are needed to acquire the same scientific information.

Refinement refers to modifications of husbandry or experimental procedures to enhance animal well-being and minimize or eliminate pain and distress.

• Researchers should guard against any tendency to underrate or ignore the potential discomfort or suffering of animal subjects, and may not attempt to achieve cost savings by compromising the quality of care afforded to animals.

View the complete ECRA Standard Operating Procedures