What Is The Governments Stance On Animal Experimentation?trackid=sp-006

Government retains Britain's strict animal testing regime

By Pallab Ghosh
Science correspondent, BBC News

Scientist holding mouse — Epitome caption,
The UK has the highest welfare standards for animate being research in the world

The U.k. says it volition retain stricter animate being testing standards than required by a new European Union Directive.

The Habitation Office Minister, Lynne Featherstone, said that special protection for dogs cats and primates would exist maintained.

Ms Featherstone also said that a centralised system for approving research licenses would go along.

The statement was welcomed by the inquiry community and animate being welfare organisations.

Simply the RSPCA's senior scientific officer, Barney Reed said that he was concerned the government was initially prepared to take European union regulations which would take allowed smaller cage sizes, the employ of less humane killing methods and the watering downward of the powers of ethics committees which oversee animal research.

"Information technology'due south been unfortunate that we've had to battle for 18 months to pretty much stand nevertheless and maintain the standards that we currently have," he told BBC News.

Professor Roger Lemon, a prominent medical researcher at Academy College London and spokesman for the campaign organisation Understanding Animal Inquiry, said the Great britain had the highest welfare standards in the world for animal experimentation.

"We applaud the Dwelling Part conclusion to hold on to those high standards," he said.

The European union has set minimum standards for the intendance and welfare of animals used in inquiry in a directive which has to be implemented by the beginning of adjacent yr. The regulations are largely in line with Britain directives which are policed and administered by the Home Function. Merely in a pocket-sized number of areas, the standards are slightly lower.

The master executive of one of the organisations that funds creature experiments, Prof Douglas Kell, said he welcomed legislation that he believes aims to improve welfare standards beyond Europe.

"Harmonising standards ensures that researchers collaborating across European borders are working together to attain creature welfare with a common understanding," he said.

"This is increasingly important in areas like livestock diseases where researchers are working together to combat emerging threats".

Kailah Eglington, the main executive of the Dr Hadwen Trust, which funds research into alternatives to the use of animals in research, said that the amended deed will enshrine the principles of reduction, refinement and replacement of beast experimentation in police force, making information technology harder for scientists to use more than animals in futurity research.

Special protection for primates, dogs and cats already enshrined in United kingdom law volition proceed

"The electric current 'gentlemen's understanding' of replacing beast experiments with non-animal alternatives will be reinforced by transposition of key new EU provisions into U.k. constabulary," she said. "The new regulations will assistance replace the apply of animals in all medical research and enable more scientists to focus on developing human-relevant alternatives throughout Europe."

Troy Seidle, managing director of research & toxicology at Humane Social club International/U.k., said that the Home Office's response offers little in the way of reform in the style that animal experiments are regulated in Britain.

"(It) is unlikely to practise anything to significantly reduce the number of animals subjected to experiments. This response seems largely nigh maintaining the condition quo which means maintaining an already flawed organization that is insufficiently scrutinised with independence or scientific rigour," he said.

Dr Tony Peatfield, Director of Corporate Affairs at the Medical Research Council (MRC) noted that the Habitation Office had responded to calls by the research community to reduce the hierarchy involved in regulating creature experimentation.

"The MRC strongly supports whatsoever effort to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy where at that place is no benefit to the welfare of inquiry animals. We especially welcome the commitment to simplifying the personal licensing system, aimed at ensuring that all those who work with research animals are properly trained and fully competent; we expect forward to working with the Home Office to develop a simpler organisation."