Animals in science

"The end justifies the means." In my opinion this phrase is rather disputable. But if it's applied to a medical research, which purpose is finding a medicine for a seriouse disease?
The article, which I've read, was devoted to the problem of animals usage in researchers. As an example Stanford University was taken. According to the author, this university has a number of requirements to the research in which animals are used. For example, before beginning any research an investigator should submit a special paper. This paper includes a detailed description of the research's procedure, a list of reasons of animals necessity,moreover, there should a list of medicines which will be used during a research. Then this paper must be approved by the special committe and by the president of the university. Only after this procedure a research begins.
This article surprised me, because I've never heard about such rules. Also it will be interesting to find out whether Russia has such kind of rules or not.