Policy driven changes in animal research practices: mapping researchers’ attitudes towards animal-free innovations using the Netherlands as an example

Abstract

17 Reducing the number of animals used in experiments has become a priority for the 18 governments of many countries. For these reductions to occur, animal-free alternatives must 19 be made more available and, crucially, must be embraced by researchers. We conducted an 20 international online survey for academics in the field of animal science (N=367) to explore 21 researchers' attitudes towards the implementation of animal-free innovations. 22 Through this survey we address three key questions. The first question is whether scientists 23 who use animals in their research consider governmental goals for animal-free innovations 24 achievable and whether they would support such goals. Secondly, responders were asked to 25 rank the importance of ten roadblocks that could hamper the implementation of animal-free 26 innovations. Finally, responders were asked whether they would migrate (either themselves 27 or their research) if increased animal research regulations in their country of residence 28 restricted their research. While nearly half (40%) of the responders support governmental 29 goals, the majority (71%) of researchers did not consider such goals achievable in their field 30 within the near future. In terms of roadblocks for implementation of animal-free methods, 31~80% of the responders considered 'reliability' as important, making it the most highly ranked 32 roadblock. However, all other roadblocks were reported by the majority of responders as 33 somewhat important, suggesting that they must also be considered when addressing animal-34 free innovations. Importantly, a majority reported that they would consider migration to 35 another country in response to restrictive animal research policy. Thus, governments must 36 consider the risk of researchers migrating to other institutes, states or countries, leading to a 37 'brain-drain' if policies are too strict or suitable animal-free alternatives are not available. Our 38 findings suggest that development and implementation of animal-free innovations are 39 hampered by multiple factors. We outline three pillars concerning education, governmental 40 influence and data sharing, the implementation of which may help to overcome these 41 roadblocks to animal-free innovations. 42 Introduction 43 Animal research has played a critical role in many scientific and medical achievements of the 44 past century. Animal models are used across many fields, including fundamental, biomedical, 45 behavioural, military and agricultural research [1]. Around the world, quality of life has been 46 greatly improved by the research, medicines, treatments and safer environments that have 47 been developed as a consequence of animal-based research in these fields. However, the 48 ethical issues associated with using animals and increased concern regarding animal 49 wellbeing [2], together with concerns regarding the translatability of animal models [3] and 50 practical difficulties of using animals [4], are gaining importance. In line with this, the 51 principles of 3R (Replacement...

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