Animal research - Leaked documents

[Guest guest]

Dear colleagues

 

 

 

Animal Defenders International (ADI) has launched a new report on the use of

animals in research at Inveresk contract testing laboratory in Scotland.

Please find below our press release on the report.

 

 

 

PRESS RELEASE

 

Documents and photographs leaked to ADI provide a chilling insight into the

world of contract research, where laboratories are paid to conduct animal

experiments on behalf of manufacturers of products such as drugs, chemicals,

household and industrial substances.

 

 

 

Inveresk laboratories, near Edinburgh, offers its clients dogs, monkeys,

rats, mice, rabbits, pigs, guinea pigs, goats, cows, birds, and fish for

experimentation and claims to be responsible for approximately 1% of all

experiments taking place in the UK - over 25,000 animals every year.

 

 

 

Experiments like this are rarely published so this is a unique insight into

the world of commercial animal experimentation.

 

 

 

The Inveresk reports show:

 

* Miscalculations in dosing resulting in severe suffering, death and

premature termination of studies.

* Researchers running out of the test substance, half way through a

study.

* A test substance passing its expiry date before the end of the

experiment, whilst dosing of the animals continued.

* Animal tests being conducted when human studies were already

underway.

* Animal results ignored - human studies continued after bad animal

results.

* Chemicals accidentally pumped into dogs' lungs instead of their

stomachs.

 

 

 

Horrific suffering is revealed. Side effects listed in Inveresk's own

reports included: dogs foaming at the mouth; vomiting; bleeding from the

gums; with diarrhoea; rats choking to death on paint; monkeys subdued,

hunched in their cages; suffering body tremors; liquid faeces and swollen

penises.

 

 

 

The ADI report discusses:

 

* the conduct of experiments, the suffering of the animals,

* The alternatives which are already available (or could be made so).

 

 

 

ADI has highlighted mistakes, inadequacies of scientific protocols, and

contradictions in Inveresk's own reports of their experiments. ADI also

discuss the protection afforded to laboratory animals under the Code of

Practice for the Housing and Care of Animals Used in Scientific Procedures

(COP), issued by the UK government's Home Office under the authority of the

Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

 

 

 

ADI Chief Executive Jan Creamer said: " This reveals the true horror of

regulatory testing on animals, and insight into the enormous level of

suffering and carnage that will be brought about by the animal testing

programme proposed in the EU's new chemical regulations. Inveresk is the

type of laboratory that will be undertaking the new EU chemical testing

programme. REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals)

is the new EU chemicals testing strategy: around 30,000 chemicals produced

in high volumes will be tested on millions of animals.

 

 

 

" UK and EU regulations require that animals should only be used when

necessary; that non-animal methods be sought. And yet we see at Inveresk,

experiments on animals when human clinical trials are being undertaken,

blunders during experimental procedures which cause animals severe

suffering, animals being choked to death with paint for unnecessary tests.

 

 

 

" All of this is unnecessary. ADI has proposed a new non-animal testing

strategy for the new chemical regulations that uses advanced techniques

which will deliver the protection for humans and the environment that we all

want to see, but without wasting animals' lives in cruel and unnecessary

tests. "

 

ENDS

 

 

 

Please contact ADI if you would like more information. The entire report can

be downloaded at

http://www.ad-international.org/download_files/animal_experiments/inveresk.p

df.

 

 

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

 

Jan Creamer

 

Chief Executive

 

Animal Defenders International

 

261 Goldhawk Road

 

LONDON W12 9PE

 

UK

 

tel. +44 (0)20 8846 9777

 

fax. +44 (0)20 8846 9712

 

www.ad-international.org

 

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