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Animal testing essential to NHS, say ministers
Mark Prigg, Science and Technology Editor21 Jul 2009
The number of animal experiments carried out in Britain rose by 14 per cent last year, government figures show.
The Home Office announced today that just under 3.7 million scientific procedures were started in 2008, a rise of 454,000 on 2007 and the highest since 1998. Rodents accounted for 77 per cent of the experiments. Tests on primates rose by 16 per cent and more fish, mice, amphibians, pigs, sheep and turkeys were used. However, less than one per cent of procedures involved primates, dogs, cats or horses.
Home Office minister Lord West today defended the rise, claiming it was necessary to improve healthcare.
“We are proud to have one of the highest standards of animal protection in the world and we are determined to keep it that way,” he said. “Advances with non-animal test methods continue to be made, but at present licensed animal use remains essential to develop improved healthcare technologies.”
The Government also highlighted the experiments' value to the NHS. Home Office minister Joan Ryan said: “Animal research and testing has saved hundreds of millions of lives worldwide, and is vital to our NHS.”
Animal campaigners reacted angrily to the figures. “Sadly, it's no surprise that numbers have gone up again,” said Alistair Currie of the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection.
“This Government has no grasp of the problem of animal experimentation and no strategy to bring numbers down.”
Poorva Joshipura of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said: “There is a very real need not only to stop cruelty, but to move away from old-fashioned animal tests.”
Reader views (1)
News that the Labour government has presided over yet another massive annual increase in animal experiments is extremely disappointing. Figures from the Home Office show licensed ‘procedures’ during 2008 totalled 3.7 million – a rise of 14 per cent on 2007.
All animals subjected to procedures suffer simply from being caged. Then comes a cruel range of torments. These include being poisoned, burnt, submerged in water, brain damaged, psychologically tormented, injected with cancerous materials and lethal pathogens, and deprived of food and water.
Moreover, animal-based research cannot be extrapolated to humans because of species differences and is therefore misleading and counterproductive.
Yours sincerely,
Mark Richards
- Mark Richards, newcastle, staffs, 31/07/2009 09:15
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