FW: (GAPNews) Sweden bans experiments on great apes

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" R.A. Kirkpatrick " <raaz-k

Thu, 10 Apr 2003 16:40:21 -0500

 

FW: (GAPNews) Sweden bans experiments on great apes

 

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GAPNews [GAPNews]

Thursday, April 10, 2003 3:59 PM

GAPNews

(GAPNews) Sweden bans experiments on great apes

 

SWEDEN BANS EXPERIMENTS ON GREAT APES

 

Sweden's Board of Agriculture together with Sweden's National Board for

Laboratory Animals recently decided on new regulations for using animals in

research. One of the most important changes is that great apes and nine

species of Gibbon apes will be exempt from use in experiments from june this

year. Only non-invasive behavioural studies of these animals will be allowed

in the future.

 

" No great apes or Gibbon apes are currently used in experiments in Sweden,

but the ban is still a matter of great ideological importance, " says

Per-Anders Svd, Campaign Manager at Animal Rights Sweden, the country's

largest animal rights organization. " The decision marks an important shift

in official policy, since it implicitly recognizes the individual moral

worth of primates. Hopefully, the ban can be seen as a first step towards

extending moral and legal rights to millions of other animals suffering in

experiments. "

 

Animal rights organizations all over the world have been campaigning to end

primate experiments for several years. The Swedish ban will undoubtely

generate hope and enthusiasm within the international community of activists

struggling to end primate experimentation in their respective countries.

 

" By raising public awareness through persistent campaigns, activists have

been able to push back long-standing prejudice surrounding the moral

standing of primates. There are no excuses for using primates in

experiments, and this is finally beginning to sink in - even at the level of

policy-making, " concludes Per-Anders Svd.

 

For more information, please contact:

 

Per-Anders Svd

Animal Experimentation Campaign Manager

Fbundet djurens rt / Animal Rights Sweden

Box 2005

125 02 vsj

SWEDEN

Phone: +46 8 555 914 03

Fax: +46 555 914 50

Mobile: +46 733 32 39 44

E-mail: per-anders.svard

Website: www.djurensratt.org

 

 

 

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