Campaigners say not only do medical experiments cause the death and unnecessary suffering of millions of dogs, mice, rabbits, monkeys and other species but they also wasted taxpayers ‘cash
Celebrities have teamed up with top photographer Rankin to reveal the suffering faced by animals in British laboratories. It come as a study found that 90% of drugs that appear to be effective after testing on animals fail in human trials.
Almost half of these are due to unanticipated human toxicity, despite this not being observed in animals. In a shoot for animal champions Animal Free Research stars including comic Diane Morgan and TV host Kirsty Gallacher posed with beagles Luna and Elvis. They are highlighting the plight of more than 2.6 million animals, including dogs, used in British laboratories annually.
Campaigners say not only do the medical experiments cause the death and unnecessary suffering of millions of dogs, mice, rabbits, monkeys and other species but they also wasted hundreds of millions of taxpayers ‘cash. A recent report called the Roadmap to Reducing Animal Testing in Preclinical Safety Studies produced by the Food and Drug Agency in the US said: “There is growing scientific recognition that animals do not provide adequate models of human health and disease.
“Some medications which are generally recognised safe in humans, such as aspirin, may have never passed animal testing. Conversely, some compounds which have appeared safe in animal models have been lethal in human trials.”
Animal Free Research UK is calling for the UK Government to introduce Herbie’s Law, named after a beagle who was bred for the animal research industry but deemed surplus to laboratory requirements.
It would prompt the phasing out of animal tests over 10 years, replacing them with humane, effective alternatives.
Many scientists are already using animal-free alternatives, including artificial intelligence, lab-grown 3D cell cultures, and organ-on-a-chip technology – cutting-edge systems that replicate the functions of human organs.
Carla Owen, CEO of Animal Free Research, said: “If 92% of drugs which show promise in animal tests currently fail to benefit patients, it doesn’t make sense to still use animals.
“As a nation of animal lovers, now is the time to replace ineffective methods and animal suffering, with modern, human-relevant science.”
Chris Mague, head of policy of not-for-profit organisation Understanding Animal Research, said: “The true statistic of animal effectiveness is more or less the opposite of that used by activists.
“Various studies prove that effects seen in animals manifest in humans an average of 86% of the time, but much higher depending on the organ and species we’re talking about.
“If we can use non-animal methods, the law requires that we do. Nobody can say with confidence that we’ll be able to phase out animal use by this or that date.”
Snapper Rankin said: “It’s shocking to me that we’re still testing on animals in the name of science.”
Pete Wicks, Deborah Meaden and Russell Kane were also pictured.