Killing animals as a necessary evil? The case of animal research

Abstract

This chapter addresses the question of killing animals in research, primarily from a moral perspective, but also taking into account some of the practical and scientific considerations with moral consequences in this context. We start by exploring in which situations animals are killed in research and whether these are always inevitable, analysing re-use and re-homing of animals as potential alternatives. We then discuss for whom – and under what circumstances -killing matters, considering situations where there may be a conflict between the wish to avoid killing and that to avoid suffering, and further take human-animal interactions into account. We argue that, although there are relevant practical, scientific and ethical arguments favouring the euthanasia of animals in most research contexts, there is a potential for rehabilitating more animals than is currently the practice.