Dunn Rachel
School of Law, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK.
Animals (Basel). 2021 May 25;11(6):1547. doi: 10.3390/ani11061547.
The UK has long been hailed as one of the world leaders in animal welfare. Within the UK, animals used in experiments are provided some protection under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA). This Act was impacted by European Union (EU) Directive 2010/63/EU, and subsequently the ASPA was updated to reflect any changes required. While the Directive is very similar to the protection the UK already afforded to animals used in experiments, there were some advances that the Directive provided that were not present in the ASPA. On paper, the changes introduced were promising but may not have been achieved in practice. In 2016, the British public voted to leave the EU, which presented concerns over animal welfare protection and legislation provided by EU law. With the completion of Brexit, there may be an opportunity to diverge from the Directive to advance protection for animals used in experiments. This article explores the influence that the EU has had on animal experimentation in the UK, the potential implications of Brexit on the welfare of animals used in experiments and suggests ways in which this protection can be progressed, with potentially more freedom to amend or introduce legislation to do so.
长期以来，英国一直被誉为动物福利领域的全球领导者之一。在英国，用于实验的动物受到1986年《动物（科学程序）法案》（ASPA）的一定保护。该法案受欧盟（EU）2010/63/EU指令影响，随后ASPA进行了更新以反映所需的任何变化。虽然该指令与英国已给予用于实验动物的保护非常相似，但该指令带来了一些ASPA中没有的进步。从理论上讲，引入的这些变化很有前景，但在实践中可能并未实现。2016年，英国公众投票决定脱离欧盟，这引发了对欧盟法律提供的动物福利保护和立法的担忧。随着脱欧的完成，可能会有机会背离该指令，以推进对用于实验动物的保护。本文探讨了欧盟对英国动物实验的影响、脱欧对用于实验动物福利的潜在影响，并提出了推进这种保护的方法，可能有更大的自由来修改或引入相关立法。
