Chapter 1 - Laboratory Animal Medicine: Historical Perspectives

Abstract

Five key terms identify the fields or activities that relate to the care and use of animals in research, education, and testing. Animal experimentation refers to the scientific study of animals, usually in a laboratory, for the purpose of gaining new biological knowledge or solving specific medical, veterinary medical, dental, or biological problems. Most commonly, such experimentation is carried out by or under the direction of persons holding research or professional degrees. Laboratory animal care is the application of veterinary medicine and animal science to the acquisition of laboratory animals and to their management, nutrition, breeding, and diseases. The term also relates to the care that is provided to animals as an aid in managing pain and distress. Laboratory animal care is usually provided in scientific institutions under veterinary supervision or guidance. Laboratory animal medicine is recognized by the American Veterinary Medical Association as the specialty field within veterinary medicine that is concerned with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases in animals used as subjects in biomedical activities. Laboratory animal medicine also encompasses the methods of minimizing and preventing pain or distress in research animals and identifying of complicating factors in animal research. Comparative medicine is “the study of the nature, cause and cure of abnormal structure and function in people, animals and plants for the eventual application to and benefit of all living things” (Bustad et al., 1976). Laboratory animal science is the body of scientific and technical information, knowledge, and skills that bears on both laboratory animal care and laboratory animal medicine and that is roughly analogous to animal science in the agricultural sector.