European Communities (Amendment of Cruelty to Animals Act 1876) Regulations 2002 (S.I. No. 566 of 2002).

These Regulations place restrictions on use of animals in experiments. They give effect to Council Directive 86/609/EEC regarding the protection of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes and amend the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876.
The Act prohibits painful experiments on living animals except subject to the restrictions imposed by the Act. The Regulations specify purposes for which an experiment on an animal may be performed and prohibit all other experiments on animals. The Regulations lay down general requirements about care and accommodation of experimental animals and other standards regarding experimenting on animals. They also contain a provision on experiments on endangered animals.