Spare animals from lab tests, PETA plea

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http://www.hindu.com/lf/2005/04/13/stories/2005041301670200.htm

 

THE PEOPLE for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

has released a brand new advertisement aimed at

raising awareness about the needless suffering of

animals in laboratories and calling on government and

scientific institutions to replace unreliable, cruel

animal tests with humane and modern alternatives.

 

The advertisement uses the format of petition and

reads - " We, the undersigned, deplore and oppose the

use of animals in laboratory experiments. " The plea

has been " signed " with the footprints of more than a

dozen species of animals and is being launched during

the World Week for Animals in Laboratories.

 

Every year in India tens of thousands of animals in

laboratories are cut open, poisoned and forced to live

in barren steel cages for years. Yet studies show that

because of vast physiological variations between

species, human reactions to illness and drugs are

completely different from those of other animals.

 

A PETA officials say: " No one should feel secure

knowing that a drug they take has been tested on

animals, as seen with the example of the recently

withdrawn of arthritis drug Vioxx. Despite being

extensively tested in animals and deemed to be `safe',

Vioxx is now believed to double a user's risk of heart

attack. " Animals research isn't just cruel, it is also

bad, " says PETA chief functionary Anuradha Sawhey. " It

should be replaced with reliable, modern and humane

alternatives, and government and professional agencies

should ensure that animals currently languishing

inside laboratories are not forced to endure neglect,

filth and unrelenting pain. "

 

New testing methods, such as using human tissue and

cell cultures, whole human DNA and high speed computer

modelling are not only humane but also cheaper, faster

and more predictive of human results, say PETA

officials.

 

In India, scientists at the National Institute of

Pharmaceutical Education and Research in Punjab have

meanwhile announced a cell-based method for testing

the efficacy of diabetes drug candidates, an

innovative technology that has already been patented

in India and the US and which is generating worldwide

interest. This cell-based test takes as little as a

single day compared to months if the same drugs were

tested on live animals, which is also much more

expensive.

 

 

 

GREATNESS OF NATION AND ITS MORAL PROGRESS

CAN BE JUDGED BY THE WAY ITS ANIMALS ARE TREATED- M.K GANDHI.

STOP HUMAN AND ANIMAL SUFFERING - GO VEGAN

I am only one but still I am one. I cannot do everything but still I can do

something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do.

Helen Keller 1880 - 1968

 

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