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The Three Rs: past, present and future

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

WMS Russell*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 218, Reading, Berkshire RG6 6AA, UK

Extract

“Our story must begin with Charles Hume, for the whole of this grand enterprise began as a twinkle in his eye, which often twinkled” (Russell 1995). Fifty-one years ago, in 1954, besides important achievements in other fields of animal welfare, Hume and the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) had brought out the first edition of The UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory Animals, edited by Alastair Worden (Worden 1947), who was already preparing a greatly enlarged second edition with William Lane-Petter (Worden & Lane-Petter 1957). Hume had already contributed to the first edition of the Handbook an article on statistical analysis, which is clearly relevant to actual experimentation (Hume 1947); he now had the brilliant and totally original idea of starting a general study of humane technique in actual experimentation. The late Rex Burch and I were appointed to undertake this project; the moment Rex walked into my office I knew that here was not only the perfect colleague but also a lifelong friend, and I sadly miss him.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2005 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

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