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How Were the Animals Involved in Science?

The Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) is the national peer-review organization responsible for setting, maintaining, and overseeing the implementation of high standards for animal ethics and care in science throughout Canada. They divide animal use in science into five Categories of Invasiveness (A to E). Category A includes most experiments involving tissue culture, eggs and single-cell organisms and does not require annual reporting.

More than 63% of animals involved in science at Queen’s University in 2023 fell under categories B and C. The invasiveness ranges from little discomfort and stress to minor stress and pain of short duration. For laboratory species, this could represent acceptable methods of euthanasia for tissue harvest, non-recovery surgical procedures performed under anesthetic, blood sampling or substance administration via acceptable routes.  For wildlife species, this could include observation in the wild and brief periods of restraint for tagging, collecting measurements or taking blood samples.

Category D studies, rated for moderate to severe distress or discomfort, amounted to roughly 36% of total animal use. These might represent recovery surgical procedures and behavioural conditioning studies or captive housing of wildlife species.

Purpose of Animals Use in Science at Queen’s University

The Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) divides the purposes for which we involve animals into the following 5 categories.

• Purpose 1: Basic Research
  Close to 35% of animals were used in studies of a fundamental nature in sciences relating to essential structure or function (e.g., biology, psychology, biochemistry, pharmacology, physiology, etc.).

• Purpose 2: Medical and Veterinary Research
  Approximately 60% of animals were used in studies for medical purposes, including veterinary medicine, that relate to human or animal disease or disorders.

•  Purpose 3: Regulatory Testing
  Canadian law dictates that animals be research models before humans in regulatory trials for drugs and general medical products. That requirement includes vaccines and medical hardware such as stents and heart valves. Queen’s University did not use any animals for regulatory testing in 2023.

• Purpose 4: Development of Products
  Less than 1% of animals were used for the development of products or appliances for human and veterinary medicine in 2023.

• Purpose 5: Educational Purposes
  Educational use of animals includes several areas of study at Queen’s University.  Approximately 3.5% of animals at Queen’s University were used for educational purposes in 2023.  Under 13% of PAU 5 animals were for teaching and training in laboratory settings which commonly utilized animal tissue rather than the handling of live animals. Roughly 47% of QAP 5 animals were part of Biology field courses that often involved observational or very basic catch and release procedures to instruct the proper techniques for field research preparation.  Queen’s also considers the use of wildlife animals for community outreach to be included in educational purposes and in 2023 roughly 46% of PAU 5 animals were involved in this capacity.  Where possible, vertebrate animals are replaced by invertebrates or non-animal models.