This article originally appeared in Science and Animal Care, Spring 1996. Reprinted by permission of Working for Animals used in Research, Drugs, and Surgery (WARDS), 8150 Leesburg Pike, Suite 512, Vienna, VA 22182.
Rex Burch died in a hospital in Norwich, Norfolk, England, on March 9, 1996, after a long fight against a terminal illness, borne with a courage which amazed both his friends and those who cared for him. He left us a priceless legacy, in the form of his book, The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique, written with William Russell and first published in 1959.
The main conclusion of the book is that all concerned in any way with laboratory animal use have a moral duty to do all they can to replace the need for animal experiments, to reduce the numbers of animals used to an unavoidable minimum, and to refine any procedures necessarily used, so as to minimize any pain or distress suffered by animals in attempts to meet the essential needs of human beings and other animals. These Three Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) are the basis of the concept of alternatives, which is now enshrined in various national and international laws, and the focus of attention of organizations all over the world, including CAAT (the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland), FRAME (the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments, Nottingham UK), and ECVAM (the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods, Ispra, Italy).
The greatest value of the Three Rs concept is that it can encourage unity and cooperation among those who are otherwise divided. Those who want to see the fastest possible end to all experimentation can work to reduce, refine and replace with those whose current responsibilities make some animal use unavoidable.
The Three Rs are not only good for animals, they are also good for science. Russell and Burch spelled it out like this in what I like to call their Humanity Criterion:
"If we are to use a criterion for choosing experiments to perform, the criterion of humanity is the best we could possibly invent. The greatest scientific experiments have always been the most humane and the most aesthetically attractive, conveying that sense of beauty and elegance which is the essence of science at its most successful."
The Principles of Humane Experimental Techniqueresulted from a project set up in 1954 by the British Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW). Rex Burch travelled all over Britain during the next five years, and interviewed more than 100 scientists.
When the book was published, it was very well received, and Charles Hume, Founder of UFAW, expected it to revolutionize attitudes toward laboratory animals and the ways in which they were treated and cared for. Strangely, and for reasons which nobody appears to fully understand, this did not happen immediately. The book was largely ignored during the 1960s, partly because their UFAW-funded project being complete, Russell and Burch themselves embarked on the next stages of their careers. William Russell became a successful comparative psychologist at the University of Reading, where he is now Professor Emeritus, and Rex Burch set up a microbiological testing service, in which he established high scientific standards and a reputation for concern for his customers which are no less legendary than his contributions to laboratory animal welfare.
The Three Rs were "rediscovered" during the 1970s, partly because of the development of FRAME and other replacement alternative organizations, partly because 1975-76 was declared Animal Welfare Year in Britain, to mark the 100th anniversary of the passage of the Cruelty to Animals Act in 1876, which regulated animal experimentation in Britain for more than 100 years, and partly because of an investigation by Professor David Smyth, which resulted in the publication of his book, Alternatives to Animal Experimentation, in 1978. By the mid- I980s, the Three Rs concept had become an integral part of new laboratory animal protection laws, notably of Directive 86/609/EEC, which is binding on all 15 member states of the European Union. However, it was not until the late 1980s that Russell and Burch themselves were " rediscovered," first by Martin Stephens, of the Humane Society of the United States, (HSUS), and Alan Goldberg, of CAAT. I did not meet Rex Burch until 1994, although I had visited Sheringham, the small seaside town in Norfolk where he had set up his testing laboratory, almost every year since he first went there in 1972. I must have walked within a few feet of his laboratory on dozens of occasions. I shall always wish that I had noticed the plaque outside the building so that our friendship could have been longer.
To the delight of Rex Burch among many others, great events have already happened during the 1990s. The HSUS has established an annual Russell & Burch award and FRAME has named its new headquarters Russell & Burch House. William Russell was the chief guest at the First World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences, organized by Alan Goldberg and held in Baltimore in November 1993.
Sadly, Rex Burch was too ill to travel to Washington to accept the first HSUS Russell & Burch Award, to attend the First World Congress,or to join Professor Russell in declaring Russell & Burch House open. Alan Goldberg and I therefore decided that if Rex Burch couldn't come to us, we would go to him.
As a result, an ECVAM Workshop on The Three Rs: The Way Forward was held at Sheringham, May 30-June 3, 1995. Rex Burch and William Russell were both present, along with 20 of the world's leading Three Rs campaigners. The report of this workshop (Alternatives to Laboratory Animals (ATLA) 23: 838-866, 1995) contains 58 far-reaching recommendations, but this occasion was no less important because it clearly meant a great deal to Rex Burch himself. The participants unanimously reaffirmed their commitment to the Three Rs with the following words:
"Humane science is good science, and this is best achieved by vigorous application of the Three Rs: reduction alternatives, refinement alternatives, replacement alternatives. Thus, the only acceptable animal experiment is one which uses the smallest possible number of animals, and causes the least possible pain or distress which is consistent with the achievement of a justifiable scientific purpose, and which is necessary because there is no other way of achieving that purpose. Any proposed experiment on animals should be subjected to prior and effective expert review by an ethics committee or an equivalent body. The Three Rs should be seen as a challenge and as an opportunity for reaping benefits of every kind - scientific, economic and humanitarian -not as a threat."
A number of Rex's friends had hoped that he would write his autobiography. He did begin to do so, but the final stages of his illness intervened. He did, however, write the Progress of Humane Experimental Technique Since 1959- A Personal View, which was published in 1995 (ATLA 23: 776-783). In this article, he describes how he became involved in the UFAW project, the production of the book and, with particular delight, his reactions to the tremendous progress made by the Three Rs concept in recent years. He ended this, his last publication, with the following words:
"Included in our dreams of 1959 were centers to coordinate work and progress researchers on an international scale and, above all, sponsors from both industries and governments. These have come to pass, and bring me to closing with a quotation (from the Bible) to which I have become very attached, "Your sons and daughters shall prophecy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions."
Rex Burch was an outstanding human being. remarkable because of his lifelong enthusiasm for science (his school friends called him "The Professor") and his concern for all those with whom he came into contact. With regard to laboratory animal welfare, he was a prophet, a dreamer and a visionary. With William Russell, he established the foundations on which a sound, realistic and far-reaching superstructure can be built. Let us get on with the work by contributing our own particular talents to the achievement of the Three Rs revolution.
Michael Balls is Head of the European Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods, Ispra, Italy, Chairman of the Trustees of FRAME (Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments), and Emeritus Professor in the University of Nottingham Medical School. He was awarded the 1994 Russell & Burch Award of the Humane Society of the United States.
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