ABSTRACT
The use of animals for research and teaching began many hundreds of years ago, wherein animal dissection provided education and training for scientists, medical students, and physicians. Such animal use coupled with human's ownership and subsequent treatment of domesticated species eventually led to the creation of societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals; the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was the first one, created in the United Kingdom in 1824. Internationally, the United Kingdom passed the Medicines Act in 1968, largely in response to the thalidomide tragedy. The theft of pet dogs from backyards by animal dealers for sale to research laboratories led to startling articles in Sports Illustrated and Life magazines in 1965 and 1966, respectively, that served as the final stimulus for the US Congress to vote on the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). The care and use of animals in biomedical research has a long and somewhat complex and involved history.
