CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Requirements for advancement in the health of humans and animals completely need scientific studies comprising the use of animals while communicating the general public disquiet about the welfare of the animals used in science globally. Nonetheless, over and above 1.2 billion people live in utmost poverty, about 850 million are constantly hungry (and the number is rising), and most of these people are seen in developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South and East Asia1. Yet animal welfare is of paramount significance due to the relationship between healthy, well-cared-for animals and sound science (Demers et al., 2006). To apprehend this movement, the one thousand years Development Goals of the United Nations set an overall intent and target to minimize the amount of people who are poor to the extreme and hungry by 50% by the year 2015. In developing countries, poverty, resource scarcity, and education all take into account the way that animals are seen and treated. In some cultures, certain animals may be given holy status, while other species are subject to indifference in the extreme and also, neglect. Economic systems and human values that place efficiency and profit above animal welfare lead to the inhumane practices found in factory farming (Rahman et al., 2005); thus, animal welfare issues cannot be gazed at in isolation from culture, values, and economic conditions – all of which affect how animals are seen, regarded and treated. Developing countries are fast coming under compulsion to fit together international standards set by developed countries, such as to inhance their delivery of veterinary services as a necessary condition for entering the competitive arena of international trade in animals and animal products (Bruckner, 2004); the demand of certain standards in the instructions to authors by some scientific journals, e.g., of quality, importance, and, in animal experiments, proof that no other possibility or substitute is available (Gruber and Hartung, 2004; Kilkenny et al., 2010; MacCallum, 2010). While taking into consideration of substitute methods for animal tests in developing countries is highly significant (due to good quality laboratory animals and proper animal facilities are not always sufficiently available to perform the currently required quality controlled testing), it is to be noted that some substitute methods have been administered in the development, production, and testing of new vaccines (Di Fabio et al,. 2002; Hong and Hendriks, 1999) as well as in toxicological studies by some institutions. Animal welfare is greatly affected by the culture, values, and economies of human societies. Research that can cause pain, suffering, or lasting harm to an animal is very securely controlled in countries such as the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, and Europe (Blokhuis, 2004; Baumans, 2004). Animals are beings capable of feeling and capable of experiencing pain and suffering. Even a process which is a basic part of day to day veterinary practice, such as venipuncture to obtain a blood sample, is controlled when it is used for research purposes. This is so because the animal will be exposed to the pain of needle insertion without obtaining any direct benefit from the procedure. Such regulation is in place for the protection of both the animals involved in research and the researchers themselves (Baumans, 2004).
1.2 Problem of the study
Over the years, it has been discovered that the most usual types of animals used in experiments are mice, rats and other rodents, rabbits, birds, and fish. Cats, dogs, pigs, sheep, goats, and primates are also seen in laboratories in large numbers (Baumans, 2004). Thousands of primates are used yearly around the world in scientific experiments with baboons, marmosets, macaques, and green monkeys being the most regular (Taylor, 2010). Chimpanzees are also still used in the US (Conlee, 2008). Conventional estimates place animals bred for and/or used in research at more than 100 million per year all around the world (Nuffield Council on Bioethics, 2005; Taylor et al., 2008). The main aim for which research animals are used comprises: basic and applied medical research (around one-third to one-half); the development of drugs and medical devices (around one-third to one-half); the production and standardization of vaccines and other biologicals (common in the developing world); the safety testing of other chemicals (around one-tenth); educational activities (a relatively small proportion – under 5%); and to diagnose disease and pin down pathogens (Baumans, 2004). The arrangement of use is quite dramatically different from the developed world (e.g., North America, Europe, and Japan (Ormandy et al., 2009; Takahashi-Omoe and Omoe, 2007)) and developing countries such as India, Indonesia, Brazil, and others. In the developing world, diagnosis, biologicals production, and testing are large users of laboratory animals. This is not the case in Europe and the US, where the pharmaceutical, biotech, and university study centers are the mainr users (van der Laan et al., 2010). Industries – pharmaceutical, chemical, and biotech – that use large numbers of research animals operate across national boundaries. On this basis, testing guidelines that see to the use of animals are set both nationally and internationally.
It is very perceptible that animal care and use has become significant in animal experimentation for reproducibility and validation of the results and data generated, with these being very prevailing in the Western world, where animal rights organizations proliferate and are very active and scientists have come under attack by groups who are firmly against the use of animals in research and testing. This paper is an attempt to define the challenges and opportunities of improving animal welfare in Nigeria.
1.3 Objectives of the study
This paper will define the challenges and opportunities of improving animal welfare in Nigeria. Following objectives include;
To define the circumstance of improving animal welfare in Nigeria.
To ascertain if there are regulatory infrastructures.
To understand how the lapses on improving animal welfare in Nigeria can be managed.
To know if there is a significant relationship between animal welfare and productivity.
There is a significant relationship between healthy, well-cared-for animals and sound science.
1.4 Research Questions
What are the circumstance and opportunities of improving animal welfare in Nigeria?
What is the situation of improving animal welfare in Nigeria?
Are there are regulatory infrastructures in the country?
How can the lapses on improving animal welfare in Nigeria be managed?
What is a relationship between animal welfare and productivity?
What is the relationship between healthy, well-cared-for animals and sound science?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
HO1: There is a significant relationship between animal welfare and productivity.
HO2: There is a significant relationship between healthy, well-cared-for animals and sound science.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The findings from this study will help organisations, schools, students, farmers to invest more on animal welfare. It will also be used for reference of the challenges and opportunities of improving animal welfare in Nigeria by considering all aspects to achieve the positive impact when it comes to animal welfare in Nigeria. Investing in animal welfare in Nigeria programmes will surely enhance Veterans' career satisfaction and thereby leading to improved animal welfare in Nigeria.
The study will assist researchers about to venture on researches on or relating to the topic in question.
1.7 Scope of the Study
The study is on the challenges and opportunities of improving animal welfare in Nigeria. Therefore, the health care practitioners at Critters Veterinary Centre, Lekki shall be used as sample for this study. The study will be restricted to animal welfare in Nigeria.
