AP Features, July 27th, 2007
Britain's government has overlooked pain being inflicted on animals in the country's scientific labs, the High Court ruled Friday, in a decision praised as a victory by animal rights activists.
Judge John Mitting ruled that the Home Office, which sets guidelines for animal experiments, acted unlawfully by describing highly invasive procedures _ such as prying open monkeys' heads to remove parts of their brain to induce strokes _ as causing only "moderate" rather than "severe" suffering.
Animal welfare activists said the judgment showed that the government had turned a blind eye to animal suffering, and that getting approval for such experiments would now be more difficult.
"This case demonstrates it has ridden roughshod over the public's trust in this matter," said Michelle Thew, chief executive of the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection.
The group, which campaigns for the abolition of all animal experiments, took the government to court claiming it was failing in its legal duty to ensure animal suffering is kept to a minimum in laboratories.
The union launched legal action after activists infiltrated Cambridge University's neuroscience primate lab in 2000 and 2001. Video shot by the activists showed marmosets being left unattended for more than 15 hours after invasive brain surgery, the union said.
The Home Office said it was examining the judgment, which it has the option to appeal.
The government says Britain's animal testing laws are the toughest in the world. Experiments can only be carried out if the expected benefits outweigh the hurt caused and no alternative technique exists. Cosmetics testing on animals is banned.
Colin Blakemore, chief of the Medical Research Council, said the ruling favored popular reaction to animal experiments over the judgment of "vets, scientists and doctors who have the expertise to understand the effects that these procedures have on animals."
"It seems very worrying to me that the court has apparently decided that this should be replaced by categorization based on the subjective views of lay people," he said.
More than 3 million animal experiments were carried out in Britain in 2006, according to government statistics, the vast majority on mice. Less than 1 percent involved primates.
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On the Net:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/animal-testing
http://www.buav.org
