Forcing animals to swim in tubes of water and inhale smoke is harmful and should be phased out of medical research in NSW, a state parliamentary inquiry has recommended.
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Two types of research, which involve forcing mice to inhale cigarette smoke and struggle in beakers of lukewarm water, were of particular concern to the upper house committee.
While intentionally killing or hurting animals was abhorrent and completely unacceptable, medical research producing extraordinary health benefits would require the ongoing use of animal testing, the committee chair wrote in the report released on Friday.
"Two specific medical research experiments - the use of rodents in the forced swim test and the smoking tower test ... were particularly harmful and accordingly (the committee) has recommended that the conduct of them be rapidly phased out," Labor MP Greg Donnelly said.
The forced swim test is used in neurobiological and drug research, including for the evaluation of antidepressants.
It involves placing rodents into cylinders of water and measuring their attempts to climb the walls and swim until they give up the struggle.
The test theorises the more an animal wriggles and attempts to escape, the less hopelessness they are experiencing. Its accuracy was questioned at the inquiry.
Another testing method - forced smoke inhalation - exposes mice to cigarette smoke or other hazards and observes the health impacts that follow.
In some instances, multiple mice are loaded into a stack of small chambers, called "smoking towers" and exposed to the substances for over an hour twice-daily for periods of up to 18 weeks, the inquiry was told.
The University of Newcastle told the inquiry that 91 of the 127 mice used in its smoke tower experiments died between 2018 and 2021. The university no longer uses the experiment.
Dissenting committee member Emma Hurst said the report made some important recommendations but didn't go far enough, including lacking a call to transition away from the use of animals in experimentation.
"Researchers do not want to continue to use animals in experimentation when there are alternatives available," the Animal Justice MP said.
"But the Labor party and the NSW government made it clear in this inquiry that they won't be supporting the industry to achieve this goal, and won't even support a proposal to develop a plan to be able to achieve this."
The committee also recommended reforming issues of transparency around animal medical testing, saying the government should consider publicising the statistics of animals used and bred for testing, and the fate of animals involved, and report annually on the amount of taxpayer funds used on animals in medical research.
It also called for nationally consistent reporting standards in this area.
The government would audit animal research facilities every three years and enhance its engagement and training with animal ethics committees to ensure they are aware of alternative research methods, if the committee's recommendations were adopted.
The state government has until late January to respond to the committee's recommendations.
Australian Associated Press
