The lab rat has rights. Before researchers in the US can experiment on animals, they need approval from committees that make sure they follow federal regulations for housing and handling the creatures. Scientists working with animals are just as likely to do the same thing.
There is one thing in common between these animals.
The federal government does not give the same protection to insects in research labs as it does to mammals. As researchers are more likely to work with cephalopods to answer questions in neuroscience and other fields, the question of whether they are treating the animals well is becoming more important.
These animals have been written into the laws of Europe and Australia. In the U.S., there is no regulatory oversight to stop people from buying and doing whatever they want with animals.
That isn't to say that cephalopod research is a bad thing. The approval process for studies on animals is the same as it is for studies on humans. Rules and laws are lagging behind when it comes to understanding the inner lives of animals like the cephalopods.
An animal can learn to navigate. Rats can't break out of their tanks, hide inside coconut shells or disguising themselves as rocks and snakes, for example.
The cuttlefish was found to be able to pass the self-control test. The cephalopods wouldn't eat a piece of prawn for more than two minutes to get a better snack.
The majority of the nervous system in an animal is carried in its arms. They feel and taste things as well. Christine Huffard is a Biologist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
According to a paper published in July, male blue-ringed octopuses can use touch to recognize females they have already had sex with. The males ran after bumping into a former mate. The research shows that the cephalopods are smart.
Do they feel pain the same way we do? It is a real concern. Amputating an animal's arm is a potentially painful surgery. We can't just ask if it hurts.
The question of whether or not animals have pain experience is a controversial one. She showed in a paper that after receiving an injection of acetic acid, octopuses stroked the wound with their beaks, avoiding a chamber where they would have stayed. They liked being in a chamber where they had experienced numbing injections.
Rats are tested to see if drugs cause pain. Dr. Crook said that the same thing could be said of the octopus.
She and her co-authors studied the nerve activity of cuttlefish that had been anesthetized. The animals were dipped in magnesium chloride and anesthetized. Scientists assumed an animal wouldn't be stressed by handling when it stopped moving and turned white. After becoming unresponsive, the cephalopod could still feel the touch of experimenters.
The finding immediately changed the way researchers in her lab work with arthropods. They waited as long as 20 extra minutes to make sure the animals wouldn't feel anything. She would like to see other labs change their practices as well.
Who is in charge of the well-being of animals in captivity? The answer in the US is complex.
The Animal Welfare Act requires humane treatment of animals. It doesn't apply to farm animals. The Health Research Extension Act of 1985 regulates the treatment of animals in research funded by the US government.
Universities and other research institutions are required to have an IACUC. The committees must have at least one person who is not affiliated with the institution. In order to start a research project, a scientist must submit a proposal to their institution's committee, which must make sure their plan complies with federal guidelines.
The director of the Animal Science Center at Boston University thinks it works. This is both a highly controversial area and a highly regulated area for animals.
Critics have pointed out that animal care committees often approve researchers. The committee goes back and forth with a scientist to revise the plan until it is acceptable. Our goal is to enable responsible research.
Dr. Niemi said, "It is incumbent upon us ethically to consider if, and how, to add them to our local oversight."
Many universities are having their committees review research on animals. The trend has gained traction in the last two years.
She said that the job of these committees is to make sure that researchers follow federal law, but not when it comes to insects. She said that they were nearly operating unanchored.
Scientists are still learning about their biology, so there is no universal manual for that. There was no legal recourse to stop the experiment if the researcher violated their agreement.
The doctor said that it is regulation theater.
While universities and other research institutions try to apply a law to their animals, the director of the Animal Law and Policy Clinic at Harvard Law School is trying to change that.
The office of laboratory animal welfare was petitioned by Ms. Meyer in 2020. She said that she had the idea to protect the animals.
The 1985 Health Research Extension Act did not define an animal. There is a document called the Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals in the N.I.H..
Ms Meyer saw the opening. She suggested that the N.I.H.'s lab animal office should change the definition of animals in the policy to include cephalopods.
She was told in July 2020 that the agency was aware of the standards in other countries that include cephalopods in animal welfare oversight and regulations.
She said that the agency had not responded in a substantive way.
A spokesman for the N.I.H. Office of Extramural Research repeated what Ms. Meyer wrote.
In the absence of new federal guidance, many international scientific journals require U.S. researchers to show that they have passed their research through an IACUC before it can be published. AAALAC International, a nonprofit that offers voluntary accreditation to research institutions, is also suggesting that institutional committees approve research on cephalopods.
Dr. Huffard said that he didn't know any researchers that would just ignore the rules. Scientists who study the many-armed creatures have decided that they deserve the same protection as other animals.
Dr. Huffard said that an overly stressed Octopus wouldn't yield useful data. She said she wanted the animals to be happy and healthy.
Dr. Huffard said it may not make sense to elevate cephalopods above the other spineless species. She said that they are complex animals. Is they the most complex of animals? Does that depend on how you define it?
The behaviors and social structures of bees are extraordinary. The British government declared crustaceans sentient and in Switzerland it is illegal to boil a lobster. Dr. Huffard said that people would be amazed at how smart they are if they studied mantis shrimps.
She feels that we should be respecting all animals.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
