ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a working tool for ethical review bodies or committees and individuals involved in the process; it will be of value for training new members and in providing continuing education programs for committee members, researchers and students. Ethical evaluation of animal experiments is an important way of assuring both these and other stakeholders that such experiments with animals are permitted only if they have been subjected to careful ethical scrutiny. Experiments that may cause pain, suffering or distress to animals may provide important scientific information, but raise ethical questions. Society expects that bodies such as ethical committees will take corporate social responsibility by acting as watchdogs for animal experiments and ensuring their decisions form a standard for acceptable or unacceptable behaviour. The use of animals in research is controversial, and the ethical evaluation of projects has an important function in ensuring that animals are used in the best possible way.
