The BPS guidelines

• The British Psychological Society (BPS) has published Guidelines

  for Psychologists Working with Animals (2012)


  These guidelines are similar to those that guide psychologists working with human participants in that they are not legally binding, but psychologists who fail to meet these guidelines may be banned from conducting research in future, and will be prevented from publishing their work in journal
• 1. Conform to current legislation: The UK Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act (1986) governs the criteria for animal research.

  This act requires that animal research only take place at licenced

  laboratories, with licenced researchers on licenced projects.

  Therefore, every animal study has to receive legal approval

  before it can be carried out
• Permission to conduct the research is only given if the study meets

  the following criteria


  • The potential findings are important enough to justify the harm

  to the animals

  • The study cannot be done with non-animal methods

  • The minimum number of animals will be used

  • Suffering will be kept to a minimum
• head to the 3 R’s

  Replacement - replace a method using animals with a scientifically suitable non-animal method

  Reduction - reduce the number of animals to a minimum without compromising the scientific outcomes

  Refinement - refine the method used in procedure, breeding, transportation, accommodation and care
• 3. Choose species suited to the research purpose: Psychologists

  should choose a species that is scientifically and ethically

  suitable for the intended use
• 4. Be aware of the animal’s previous experience: Knowledge of

  an individual animal’s previous experience, such as whether or

  not it was bred in captivity, is important.

   This will inform what sort of care the animal will need while in

  the study.

   The use of non-human primates will always require particularly

  careful consideration because of their high level of sentience
• 5. Remember that responsibilities extend to the care of animals when they are not being studied, including the provision of companions for social animals.

   Caging conditions should consider the social behaviour of the species.

   Caging in isolation may be stressful to social animals; overcrowding may also cause distress, and possible harm through aggression
• 6. Pay special attention to any procedure that may cause pain and ensure that such procedures are carefully evaluated and alternatives considered.

   Procedures should only cause pain and suffering if no over alternative is available
• 7. Carefully consider food intake (e.g. for conditioning experiments) so that normal food intake and metabolic requirements are met.

   When arranging schedules of deprivation, the experimenter should consider the animal’s normal eating and drinking habits and its metabolic requirements; a short period of deprivation for one species may be unacceptably long for another