Animal-to-Human Transplants
Animal concerns: principles
10.7Current thinking about the use of animals for medical purposes has been reviewed in Chapter 4. One line of thought holds that when judging whether it is acceptable to use animals for medical purposes, it is necessary to consider whether the pain and suffering of the animals is justified by the potential benefit to human beings (paragraphs 4.5 - 4.6). Another line of thought suggests that animals, like human beings, have rights that must be respected when considering their use for such purposes (paragraphs 4.7 - 4.8). Whether the argument is framed in terms of the interests or the rights of animals, the crucial point is the extent to which animals share the features supposed to be important to human interests and rights. The feature to which most importance has generally been attached is that of self-awareness (paragraph 4.9). To be self-aware requires a high degree of intelligence, the capacity to make comparisons and judgements, and a language with which to articulate them. It has been argued that suffering and death are uniquely painful to a self-aware being who not only senses pain but can also perceive the damage being done to his or her self and future.
10.8 The Working Party accepted that some use of animals for medical purposes is "an undesirable but unavoidable necessity" and that "in the absence of any scientifically and morally acceptable alternative, some use of animals . . . can be justified as necessary to safeguard and improve the heath and alleviate the suffering of human beings". Not every benefit to human beings will justify the use of animals and, in some cases, the adverse effects on the animals will be so serious as to preclude their use. This conclusion drew on the position set out by the Institute of Medical Ethics towards biomedical research using animals (paragraphs 4.25 - 4.27).