Current legislation and recommendations on ethical post-experimental care and disposition of laboratory animals: a call for global standards

The fate of laboratory animals once experiments end remains an ethical blind spot. This Comment compares the legislation governing the post-experimental care and disposition of laboratory animals—rehoming, reuse, setting free and tissue sharing—across the European Union, USA, UK and Republic of Korea. Highlighting the gaps that persist, particularly in the Republic of Korea, it proposes a decision-making framework and calls on the global scientific community to adopt shared ethical standards for the animals that have contributed to research.