In the news
11 Mar 2010
11 May 2009
British Government launches public consultation on animal experiments
The Home Office has launched a public consultation on EU proposals to update animal experiments law. The Dr Hadwen Trust for Humane Research says the 62 page technical consultation will not assess ordinary people’s views and urges the government to do more to take account of the public’s call for change for animals in laboratories.
The European Commission first published its draft revision of the EU’s 20-year old law, Directive 86/609, back in November 20081. Its proposals were for a future-thinking EU science agenda that combined responsible limits on animal use including curbs on scientists’ freedom to use monkeys in experiments with no clear human benefit, together with support for cutting-edge non-animal research.
However, the European Parliament voted on May 5th in favour of measures that would weaken the Commission’s proposal by watering-down many of the key animal welfare provisions2. Sustained lobbying by the pharmaceutical and other animal research industries succeeded in chipping away at commitments to better protect animals.
The Council of Ministers (Member State representatives) will now formulate its position on the proposal, and the current Home Office consultation will inform UK policy recommendations made during the Council negotiations.
The Dr Hadwen Trust, the UK’s leading non-animal medical research charity, says that EU citizens have already made it clear they want change for animals in laboratories. When the EU Commission held a public consultation on Directive 86/609 in 2006, 42,665 people responded with 13.4% from the UK. Of respondents, 93% believed more needs to be done to improve laboratory animal welfare/protection3.
“It’s clear from the European Commission’s own public consultation in 2006 that EU citizens are deeply concerned about animal suffering.” says Wendy Higgins, Communications Director at the Dr Hadwen Trust for Humane Research. “They want an animal experiments law that Europe can be proud of, introducing responsible limits on animal use rather than allowing scientists carte-blanche to experiment on animals without restriction. Despite this, EU politicians have so far largely ignored public calls for reform and pandered instead to animal research industry lobbying. The Home Office’s new consultation is not designed to take account of ordinary people’s views so we urge the government to make every effort to genuinely listen to the British people’s call for change for laboratory animals, and to act when it’s time to vote in Brussels.”
More than 12 million animals are used in EU labs each year. The proposals will be voted on by the Council of Ministers later in the year, before being sent back to the EU Parliament again in a process expected to stretch into 2010.
The Home Office consultation will run for eight weeks ending on 3rd July.
What you can do:
- Show your support for animal experiments reform by joining our Make Animal Testing History cyber march to Brussels. Click here to create your character and join thousands of people calling for change such as a phase-out of experiments on non-human primates and greater action on non-animal alternatives.
- Take part in the Home Office consultation. The deadline for responses is 3rd July. This is a long document so to help you, we have produced some guidance notes to help you respond to just the key issues we need your help on. Click here to download our guidance notes, copy and paste them into a new email, insert your full name and address (indicated in red), and send the email to aspd-brp@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk. Alternatively you can print and send your response first-class to: Animals Scientific Procedures Division, Home Office, 4th Floor, Seacole Building, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF.
Notes
1 European Commission proposal can be read here
2 MEPs voted on May 5th to reject strict limits on re-use of animals, reject restricting experiments on monkeys, reject time-tabled phase-out of monkey use over time or a phase out of F1 generation monkeys (offspring of wild-caught parents) without an additional prior feasibility study, reject mandatory central authorisation for all experiments, reject retrospective ethical review for almost all experiments.
3 The European Commission’s Citizens’ Questionnaire 16 June – 18 August 2006 has 42,665 respondents from all 25 Member States. Of respondents, 93% believed more needs to be done to improve laboratory animal welfare/protection by action at EU level; 81% thought experiments on non-human primates is unacceptable; 92% said the EU should play a leadership role in promoting in the international arena a greater awareness of animal welfare and protection, in particular regarding animals used in experiments.
