It is entirely appropriate that Russell and Burch are finally receiving the recognition they deserve. The HSUS is pleased to have played a small role in this recognition, with the establishment of the Russell and Burch Award. Of course, as with any work more than 30 years old, some of the material is dated. The authors' profile of British animal experimentation in the late 1950s and some of their examples are now mainly of historical interest. Nevertheless, the book's principles are still sound and the material provides insight into the early developments of the Three Rs.
Principles has no counterpart in U.S. literature.
A Critical Evaluation of Animal Research, published in 1984, comes closest, but it is an outsider's critique addressed to a general audience, not an insider's call for change. Maybe someone who reads The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique will be compelled to write a U.S.-grounded update. That would be a fitting legacy for this book. All rights reserved.