The arrangement of the human-animal-relationship is one of the paramount normative challenges of ethics, law, and the natural sciences. In present discussions there is a widely prevalent agreement that animals must no longer be regarded as mere things but deserve consideration. In research with animals there is no consensus as to how this consideration shall be put into practice. As moral recognitions can only be formulated out of the ethical community of persons, an asymmetrical situation is generated between the relation of human self-interest and suppositions about what is beneficial for other animals. Due to high legal hurdles in dealing with study participants and the stipulation that clinical applications must be backed up by animal testing, research with animals plays an important role in the realm of medical research. The present expert report analyses the development of the numbers in animal testing embedded in a comprehensive introduction to the foundations of research with animals. Furthermore, it informs about the state of the art of research of alternative methods and finally discusses the legal and ethical aspects of animal testing.

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