Three Rs Search Guide

If you plan to use animals for scientific purposes, you must complete an animal use protocol and submit it to an animal care committee for approval prior to commencement of the study. The animal use protocol outlines how the Three Rs will be implemented in the proposed animal-based procedures. To find the most up-to-date information on the Three Rs, investigators typically conduct a structured information search. To assist investigators with this search, the CCAC has produced the Three Rs Search Guide.

The Three Rs Search Guide provides detailed instructions on how to conduct a Three Rs information search in the Step-by-Step Three Rs Search Strategy.

Specific information can be found more quickly by selecting one of the following Quick Info topics:

We would like to know whether this tool is useful for Canadian investigators and would be grateful if you could send us your feedback at ThreeRs@ccac.ca.

Replacement alternatives refers to methods which avoid or replace the use of animals in an area where animals would otherwise have been used. This includes both absolute replacements (i.e. replacing animals with inanimate systems, such as computer programs) and relative replacements (i.e. replacing more sentient animals, such as vertebrates, with animals that current scientific evidence indicates have a significantly lower potential for pain perception, such as some invertebrates).

Reduction alternatives refers to any strategy that will result in fewer animals being used to obtain sufficient data to answer the research question, or in maximizing the information obtained per animal and thus potentially limiting or avoiding the subsequent use of additional animals, without compromising animal welfare.

Refinement alternatives refers to the modification of husbandry or experimental procedures to minimize pain and distress, and to enhance the welfare of an animal used in science from the time it is born until its death.

Last modified: 2009-02-27