In 1959, the British scientists William Russel and Rex Burch published the 3R principle as a doctrine for experimental scientific work in their book The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique.
The goal of the 3R principle is to completely avoid animal experiments (replacement), minimize the number of animals (reduction), and limit their suffering in experiments to an absolute minimum (refinement).
Today, the 3R principle is the basis of animal welfare policies and practice for modern research approaches in many countries including the EU (European Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes) and in Germany (Animal Protection Act and the Experimental Animal Protection Ordinance).
This means that every scientist planning an experiment with animals needs official approval. In the approval request, the following questions must be answered with scientific justifications:
- Are there ways to avoid the planned animal experiment by using other methods?
- Is the number of animals used reduced to an absolute minimum?
- Is the stress to which the animals are exposed kept to an absolute minimum?
The state agencies responsible for approving animal experiment applications review whether these questions are answered according to the current state of scientific knowledge.
The 3R principle and its recognition are linked to the goal of completely replacing animal experiments as soon as this is scientifically feasible.
