The Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA) has issued a directive asking all the institutions and colleges, approved by Pharmacy Council of India (PCI), to strictly follow the specific guidelines of Medical Council of India for the use of animals  for carrying out experiments. In pharmacy colleges, a large number of  animals are used by students for research and studies.

 CPCSEA was constituted under section 15 of the Prevention of the Cruelty to the Animals (PCA) Act, 1960 which aims to ensure the humane and ethical use of animals, while facilitating research and experiments on animals.

The Act states that if the institution or establishment is not registered with CPCSEA then they will not be allowed to perform any experiment on the animals. PCI is insisting that all the institutions to minimise the use of animals for  the experiments  and if they have to perform any experiment or research they have to take the permission of CPCSEA then only they can do it.

Dipankar Chakraborthy, vice president, PCI informed that not only in the pharmacy institutions this act is enforced but also in the colleges where the dissection of  animals is carried out. Some institutions where experimentation is carried on animals like for pharmcology work where some tissues of animals like frog or cockroach are taken out and then allowing the animals to die. According to the PCA act this can be reduced. PCI is advocating to use softwares for demonstrating the action of Drugs on animal without using the Animal whereever possible one such software was developed (Indian Journal of Pharmacology, Issue 6, Vol 35,2003).

The decision of the committee is to ensure that while conducting various types of experiments, in connection with medical research or education, animals are not subjected to avoidable pain or suffering. The main function of this committee is to register institutions carrying out animal experimentation and/or breeding; to consider approval of animal house facilities and to regulate use of animals in experimentation.

As per section 19 of Prevention of Cruelty to the Animals Act, CPCSEA can prohibit any institution for carrying out the experiments or the ongoing research on animals if it is not registered. Also the committee has the power to close the animal house facility if any institution or establishment is not registered within 60 days from the date of commencement.