Recently, a petition was offered to the European Commission calling for an immediate ban on animal testing. Although a Europe-wide moratorium on the use of animals in science is not yet possible, there has been a push by the non-scientific community and politicians for a rapid transition to animal-free innovations. Although there are benefits for both animal welfare and researchers, advances on alternative methods have not progressed enough to be able to replace animal research in the foreseeable future. This trend has led first and foremost to a substantial increase in the administrative burden and hurdles required to make timely advances in research and treatments for human and animal diseases. The current COVID-19 pandemic clearly highlights how much we actually rely on animal research. COVID-19 affects several organs and systems, and the various animal-free alternatives currently available do not come close to this complexity. In this Essay, we therefore argue that the use of animals is essential for the advancement of human and veterinary health.

最近，向欧盟委员会提交了一份请愿书，要求立即禁止动物试验。尽管不可能在欧洲范围内暂停在科学中使用动物，但非科学界和政界人士一直在推动向无动物创新的快速过渡。尽管对动物福利和研究人员都有好处，但是替代方法的进展还不足以在可预见的将来替代动物研究。这种趋势首先导致了行政负担和障碍的大量增加，以便及时开展人类和动物疾病的研究和治疗。当前的COVID-19大流行清楚地表明了我们对动物研究的实际依赖。COVID-19会影响多个器官和系统，并且目前可用的各种无动物替代品还不能接近这种复杂性。因此，在本论文中，我们认为动物的使用对于人类和兽医的健康发展至关重要。