Government accused on animal tests

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Zoologist Professor Michael Balls, an Emeritus Professor at the University of Nottingham, advised the Government when the current legislation governing animal testing was drawn up.

He is chairman of the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments (Frame), an animal welfare charity.

Prof Balls spoke out on Monday as the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) announced it was taking the Government to the High Court in London on Tuesday over the fate of laboratory animals.

The judicial review case will seek a declaration that the Government has failed in its duty to ensure animal suffering in Home Office licensed laboratories is kept to a minimum. The judge will be asked to order the Home Office to re-examine its licensing regulations.

Part of the BUAV's claim is that many invasive procedures such as exposing the brains of live monkeys are wrongly classified as "moderate".

Its case is supported by video and documentary evidence collected in a 10-month undercover operation at a Cambridge University lab.

The BUAV alleges Government assurances about "strict" regulation of animal experiments are misleading.

Prof Balls said "Some of the procedures applied to primates, and especially those involving the insertion of electrodes into the brain, involve substantial discomfort and suffering. This is conveniently classified as 'moderate' treatment at present. There is little evidence that such work provides any benefit to humans, yet substantial suffering is clearly involved for the primates being used. Therefore it is hard to see how the Home Secretary could have been satisfied that these experiments pass the cost (to the animal): benefit (to medical research) test.

"It's high time the way animal experiments are licensed in this country was re-examined. I had great hope that the system would ensure that animal use was reduced and suffering would be minimised when I was involved in the passage of the new law in 1985-86 - but it seems clear that it is failing in both regards."