Abstract

'Laboratory animals’ are non-human living beings, which are used by science for experimental or observational purposes. Several important contemporary scientific achievements, particularly in the field of biomedicine, have been accomplished thanks to animal experimentation; thence, more and more animals have nowadays been used in scientific research. Nevertheless, the issue of laboratory animals raises ethical concerns and has been the cause of many disagreements and controversy. These disagreements have been intensified since World War II and more so following the expressed theories of ethicist Peter Singer (1975), who has been the main representative of the animal rights movement. After 1990, the emergence of genetic engineering has intensified the dispute even further. What is, however, the viewpoint of Christian Orthodox Ethics towards animal experimentation? Are acts such as captivity, inflicting pain or even putting down living creatures, for the sake of scientific progress, morally justified according to the ethics of the Orthodox theological tradition?