It’s been around for decades now, but i believe they’ve gotten stricter and stricter in the 21st century.

Usually, at least in the US, the institution has an internal committee, which also answers to higher ups outside the university. These internal committees usually have vets, bioethicists, other scientists who can validate that the science is clear and justified, etc. EVERYTHING has to be outlined in detail, prior to procedures, and no deviations can occur. There’s quite literally a strict rule for everything and anything you could think of. And of course, all personnel has to undergo ethics and technical trainings, online and in-person, and get certified and approved to work each protocol.

Any modifications to protocols have to written in detail, with justifications, and has to be approved prior to implementation. At my institution, there are also surprise visits where they drop in and watch you to make sure you’re following everything down to a T. And we have 24 hour animal techs and vets on call.

Animal work is not my favorite, even though I do it for certain things. And there are definitely a lot of people that prefer not to do it themselves, but the biomedical community in general does believe it is necessary. After all, medicine is where it is now because of animal research. It’s saved countless lives and extended our life expectancy by a LOT in many countries.