Protection laws relating to animal testing in the Kingdom of Italy. An historical overview

The first Italian law ruling the protection of animals used for research and testing dates back to 1913, when Italy was under the Vittorio Emanuele IIIs Kingdom. Before this period, the only rules about the protection of animals were in the various Penal Codes in force within the Italian territories. The legislation included in the Penal Codes mostly covered the cruelty to animals and regulation of the use of animals for scientific purposes were not even always provided. In the present paper, the author provides a synthetic historical overview of the main protection laws relating to animals used for research and testing between 1911 and 1941, highlighting the main juridical and ethical aspects of the use of animals for scientific purposes.