The Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA) in India is one of a kind in the world. It is a statutory body of the government of India formed by an act of the Indian parliament. This body consists of nominated members and representatives from national regulatory agencies, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Environment and Forests, national academic and research councils, premier research institutes, eminent scientists and animal welfare organisations. The CPCSEA draws its powers from the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act of 1960 which states that the duty of the committee is "to take all such measures as may be necessary to ensure that animals are not subject to unnecessary pain or suffering before, during or after the performance of experiments on them ". With the power to promulgate its own laws to ensure the humane and ethical use of animals in research and education, the CPCSEA in 1998 notified in the gazette of India the "Breeding of and Experiments on Animals (Control and Supervision) Rules 1998". The CPCSEA is unique in that the law in itself has enabled the creation of a common platform of discussion for scientists and animal activists for humane and progressive solutions for the use of animals in experimentation. In a country that is caught in a paradox of violence and rich cultural and religious traditions, India still draws a lot of its power from the concept of "Ahimsa" (the philosophy of non-violence). This concept is also pertinent to the use of animals in laboratories. Unethical, inhumane and unscientific practices, and ignorance of the use of alternatives were the way of science until 1999 when CPCSEA became functional. For four years CPCSEA has waged a battle, rescued thousands of animals from laboratories, fought legal battles to victory, enforced for the first time in the country good laboratory practice, designed guidelines for the use of animals in the production of immunobiologicals, introduced the credo of 3R principles, trained and taught scientific personnel the credibility of humane science and most importantly brought forward the concept of the fourth R, "rehabilitation" of used laboratory animals. Today CPCSEA has made it a national policy that personnel using experimental animals have amoral responsibility towards these animals after their use. Costs of after-care/rehabilitation of animals post experimentation are to be a part of research costs and should be scaled in positive correlation with the level of sentience of the animals. This paper is about the Indian law on animal experimentation and the success story of the CPCSEA in India in inculcating the credo of 4Rs - Replacement, Reduction, Refinement, and Rehabilittuion of animals used in experimentation.

Most research and breeding institutions have to deal with the problem of post-experimental or surplus laboratory animals. The German law on Animal Welfare (Tierschutzgesetz) forbids to kill animals without proper reason. This prohibition is valid for laboratory animals, too. If an animal survives an experiment without permanent pain or harm, the further remain must be organised. Re-homing of these animals to private people is one solution for this problem. The animals can be passed on to a family as a pet. Another possibility is to re-home the animal with the help of a welfare organisation. This way offers some advantages. The organisation seeks the new owners, gives them all necessary information and remain available for them. Using such an organisation; the re-homing process is to a great extend safe and anonymous for the research institution. Many institutions already made very good experiences in the cooperation with welfare organisations.

All scientific studies published in journals in which research was performed on nonhuman primates in Sweden between 1979 and 2003 (N=1038) were identified and sampled according to species used, area of research, research class and geographic location. Results showed that nonhuman primates were used in various scientific disciplines and that the number of articles published peaked in the early 1990s. Macaca fascicularis and M. mulatta were the most commonly used species. During the sample period projects related to genetics, HIV, and neuroscience increased, whereas projects related to dentistry, ophthalmology and physiology seem to have disappeared.   

Since bivalve molluscs can contain algae biotoxins that can cause gastroenterological or even lethal neurological diseases in humans, a public health control system on marine biotoxins has been implemented in EU Directive 91/492. Currently, the reference method laid down for this purpose is the so-called "mouse bioassay" with death of the animals as an endpoint. To date, this extremely distressful animal test has not been standardised or validated, and there is scientific evidence that it is neither relevant nor reliable. Therefore different EU Member States have been striving to replace the mouse bioassay or to reduce the animal numbers and the distress for the animals. In the United Kingdom, the test is being performed with two instead of three mice, the animals are anaesthetised before injection of the mollusc extract and remain in narcosis until their death. In Germany the mouse bioassay has not been performed for many years; without restriction of consumer health safety, marine biotoxins are detected with chemical analytical test methods. The application of alternative test methods is legally required according to EU Directive 86/609 on the Protection of Laboratory Animals. Apparently there is a conflict between two equal valid EU Directives, which has to be overcome.