Boyd Group publications for downloading:

Ethical review of research involving animals: a role for institutional ethics committees? (March 1995)

Advancing refinement of laboratory animal use (April 1998)

The use of animals for testing cosmetics (July 1998)

Genetic engineering: animal welfare and ethics (September 1999)

The use of non-human primates in research and testing (June 2002)

The use of animals in testing household products (December 2002)

Boyd Group/RSPCA: Categorising the severity of scientific procedures on animals (July 2004)

The latest paper reports the findings of a series of three focus-group discussions which explored the appropriateness and usefulness of the present system of severity categorisation under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (A(SP)A), and made suggestions for improvement. The groups involved:

The findings show a remarkable convergence of opinion on the key issues and possible ways forward, both between and within these groups.