NP - Animal Welfare Network Calls for Ban on Unregulated Animal Experimentation

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*Animal Welfare Network Calls for Ban on *

 

*Unregulated Animal Experimentation*

 

 

 

*Kathmandu, February 12, 2009* - The Animal Welfare Network Nepal calls for

a ban on unmonitored animal experimentation. The networks requests

government bodies, institutes and companies to immediately halt animal

testing and rehabilitate the animals involved.

 

 

 

The Animal Welfare Network Nepal, a coalition of seven animal welfare

organizations, calls for* *an immediate halt of unmonitored animal

experimentation. It also calls for professional rehabilitation of the

animals involved. The network encourages the parties involved to replace

testing with humane methods such as TOPKAT, a software package available in

India[1] <#_ftn1>. The network also urges the government to pass the Animal

Welfare Act in order to regulate and reduce animal experimentation and

suffering in future.

 

 

 

Despite the fact that Nepal has no law or monitoring system to supervise

animal testing, government departments, training institute and companies

experiment on species such as rhesus monkey, sheep, frog, rabbit and mice.

 

 

 

One such example is the B P Koirala Institute of Health Science (BPKIHS) in

Dharan. Medical students at this institute conduct tests on sheep, rabbits

and mice. One shocking fact is that rabbits have undergone different kinds

of heart surgery and are being used to test substances in their eyes.

 

 

 

The Draize test for rabbits, in which test substances are left in a rabbit's

eye for four hours, is very controversial. Apart from being cruel it is also

unscientific because of the differences between rabbit and human eyes, and

the subjective nature of the visual evaluations.

 

 

 

Animal experimentation also takes place at the National Biomedical Research

Center in Lele, where over 300 monkeys are prepared for export to the USA.

Like in any biomedical research centre the death rate among Lele monkeys is

very high: some 10% dies a 'natural death' while another 10% is deemed unfit

and euthanized. Animal testing also takes place at the Department of

Livestock and at institutes throughout the country.

 

 

 

According to the network animal experimentation by medical institutes is

useless, cruel and squanders precious resources. The institutes involved do

not employ full-time veterinarian to take care of animals on a day-to-day

basis or caretakers to look after the animals at night. Most of the

procedures are performed by students. Housing conditions are bleak with

insufficient air conditioning, proper lighting, or hygienic water bottles,

cages and food.

 

Dissection of animals by students is cruel to students and animals alike. In

India many progressive universities have changed their syllabi and opted for

humane, scientific teaching methods. In 1997, the Delhi High Court ruled

that every student has the right to a humane alternative to dissection.

Alternatives, which range from anatomically correct models of human organs

to sophisticated computer programmes, are readily available.

 

Animal tests, apart from being cruel, are also completely inaccurate because

of the vast physiological variations between species. Animal studies teach

us nothing about the health of humans because human reactions to illnesses

and medications are completely different from the reactions of other

animals. Other species absorb, metabolise and eliminate substances

differently than humans do. The truth is that testing on animals is just

plain bad science which harms humans and other animals alike.

 

 

 

Clinical trials, the use of human volunteers, case studies, autopsy reports

and statistical analyses permit far more accurate observation – as well as

the use of actual environmental factors related to human disease – than is

possible with animals confined to laboratories.

 

In many cases, not only does animal testing hurt animals and waste money, it

also harms and kills humans. For example, thalidomide, Zomax and DES were

all tested on animals and judged safe, but they had devastating consequences

for the people who used them.

 

Animal testing is no longer the golden rule. All over the world scientists

find much better, safer alternatives. The Animal Welfare Welfare Network

invites Nepal's government, institutes and companies to show enlightened,

socially responsible management and ban animal experimentation.

 

 

 

For more information:

 

* *

 

*Manoj Gautam, Country Representative Roots and Shoots, 9841-496822*

 

*Pramada Shah, Volunteer Director Animal Nepal, 9851041103*

 

* *

 

*Animal Welfare Network Nepal*

 

Secretariat Animal Nepal

 

Ekantakuna, Patan

 

c/o Saathi Nepal, PO Box 770, Kathmandu

 

awnnepal

 

www.awnnepal.blogspot.com

 

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[1] <#_ftnref1> TOPKAT, a software package available in India, allows

researchers to predict chemicals' oral toxicity as well as their degree of

skin and eye irritation. Faster, cheaper and more accurate than animal

tests, TOPKAT is now used by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the US as well as by the US Army.

Also available in India is a CD developed by

JIPMER<http://www.ampiweb.org/indphar/sware.htm>which has been

specially designed and prepared to replace all animals used

in undergraduate courses in pharmacology, medicine and veterinary science.

 

 

--

Lucia de Vries

Freelance Journalist

Bagdol, Patan, Nepal

Wijk 4-47, 8321 GE Urk, Holland