ETHICS OF ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION (cont)
The use of animal models in research imposes moral, ethical and legal responsibilities on the scientist to use the most humane methods of research. By definition, "humane" is "marked by compassion, sympathy and consideration for other human beings or animals."
It is also important to remember that minimizing animal stress will help to maintain a more consistent physiologic state thus improving the quality of the research data. Numerous studies indicate that animals in pain and in distress have altered cardiovascular dynamics and depressed immune responses. Reliable research data might not result in investigations using animals with these altered responses and it should be emphasized that humane care and good science are, therefore, compatible goals.