In the news
21 Nov 2008
13 December 2007
Red herring not red tape
Proponents of animal research gave a media briefing this week in which they bemoaned what they claim is the burden of animal research ‘red tape’. It is quite astonishing that we appear to still give any credence at all to these disingenuous protests by animal researchers that excessive bureaucracy is a block to medical progress and laboratory animal welfare.
Britain conducts over three million animal experiments every year, more than any other European country. Each and every experiment is licensed by the Home Office as having the potential to cause what the law describes as “pain, suffering, distress and lasting harm.” That suffering is deliberately inflicted on so many animals, including primates with an unquestionably high level of sentiency, at the very least obligates us to ensure that experiments are rigorously regulated. Indeed the so-called red tape that some scientists so cynically rail against, are the same regulations that the Home Office and animal researchers proudly trumpet as the best in the world when defending animal experiments against criticism.
This latest episode reveals the true hypocrisy of many pro-vivisectionists, shedding crocodile tears about alleged hurdles to improving the welfare of the very animals on whom they demand license to inflict suffering, whilst at the same time appeasing a concerned public with assurances about tight regulation. When animal researchers start talking about streamlining regulation, what they really mean is they want more freedom to do what they like to laboratory animals without restriction or interference from the state. That is simply unacceptable in a civilised society. The Dr Hadwen Trust funds the development of alternative techniques to achieve a world where animal experiments are either no longer permissible or have been replaced by advanced non-animal methods. Until that day comes, it is the self-serving attitude of animal researchers that is delaying progress, and not any amount of red tape.
