Editing Animal testing (section)

===Euthanasia===
{{Further|Euthanasia|Animal euthanasia}}
Regulations require that scientists use as few animals as possible, especially for terminal experiments.<ref name=Flecknell/> However, while policy makers consider suffering to be the central issue and see animal euthanasia as a way to reduce suffering, others, such as the [[RSPCA]], argue that the lives of laboratory animals have intrinsic value.<ref>[http://www.apc.gov.uk/reference/costbenefit.pdf Animal Procedures Committee: review of cost-benefit assessment in the use of animals in research] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227041442/http://www.apc.gov.uk/reference/costbenefit.pdf |date=27 February 2008 }} The Animal Procedures Committee, June 2003 p46-7</ref> Regulations focus on whether particular methods cause [[pain]] and [[suffering]], not whether their death is undesirable in itself.<ref name=Carbone2>Carbone, Larry. "Euthanasia," in Bekoff, M. and Meaney, C. ''Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Welfare''. Greenwood Publishing Group, pp. 164–66, cited in Carbone 2004, pp. 189–90.</ref> The animals are euthanized at the end of studies for sample collection or [[Autopsy|post-mortem examination]]; during studies if their pain or suffering falls into certain categories regarded as unacceptable, such as depression, infection that is unresponsive to treatment, or the failure of large animals to eat for five days;<ref>{{cite web|first =Dale |last =Cooper |url=http://www.ahc.umn.edu/rar/euthanasia.html |title="Euthanasia Guidelines", Research animal resources|publisher=University of Minnesota|date=11 June 2017 }}</ref> or when they are unsuitable for breeding or unwanted for some other reason.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Close B, Banister K, Baumans V, Bernoth EM, Bromage N, Bunyan J, Erhardt W, Flecknell P, Gregory N, Hackbarth H, Morton D, Warwick C | title = Recommendations for euthanasia of experimental animals: Part 1 | journal = Laboratory Animals | volume = 30 | issue = 4 | pages = 293–316 (295) | year = 1996 | pmid = 8938617 | doi = 10.1258/002367796780739871| doi-access = free }}</ref>

Methods of euthanizing laboratory animals are chosen to induce rapid unconsciousness and death without pain or distress.<ref>[http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=5140 "Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals"], ILAR, National Research Council, National Academies Press, 1996, p. 65, {{ISBN|0-309-05377-3}}.</ref> The methods that are preferred are those published by councils of veterinarians. The animal can be made to inhale a gas, such as [[carbon monoxide]] and [[carbon dioxide]], by being placed in a chamber, or by use of a face mask, with or without prior sedation or anesthesia. [[Sedative]]s or [[anesthetic]]s such as [[barbiturate]]s can be given [[Intravenous therapy|intravenously]], or inhalant anesthetics may be used. Amphibians and fish may be immersed in water containing an anesthetic such as [[tricaine]]. Physical methods are also used, with or without sedation or anesthesia depending on the method. Recommended methods include [[decapitation]] (beheading) for small rodents or rabbits. [[Cervical dislocation]] (breaking the neck or spine) may be used for birds, mice, rats, and rabbits depending on the size and weight of the animal.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Diaz |first=Silvina L. |date=2020 |title=Conducting and reporting animal experimentation: Quo vadis? |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ejn.14091 |journal=European Journal of Neuroscience |language=en |volume=52 |issue=6 |pages=3493–3498 |doi=10.1111/ejn.14091 |pmid=30058230 |s2cid=51865025 |issn=0953-816X|hdl=11336/88084 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>  High-intensity microwave [[irradiation]] of the brain can preserve brain tissue and induce death in less than 1 second, but this is currently only used on rodents. [[Captive bolt]]s may be used, typically on dogs, ruminants, horses, pigs and rabbits. It causes death by a concussion to the brain. Gunshot may be used, but only in cases where a penetrating captive bolt may not be used. Some physical methods are only acceptable after the animal is unconscious. [[electric shock|Electrocution]] may be used for cattle, sheep, swine, foxes, and mink after the animals are unconscious, often by a prior electrical stun. [[Pithing]] (inserting a tool into the base of the brain) is usable on animals already unconscious. Slow or rapid freezing, or inducing [[air embolism]] are acceptable only with prior anesthesia to induce unconsciousness.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.avma.org/resources/euthanasia.pdf |title=AVMA Guidelines on Euthanasia, June 2007 edition, Report of the AVMA Panel on Euthanasia |publisher=Avma.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815114956/http://www.avma.org/resources/euthanasia.pdf |archive-date=15 August 2011 }}</ref><!--add subsections on cage sizes; use versus care-->