(IN) 'Cruel' AIIMS targeted - OIPA action

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http://www.mid-day.com/news/2008/oct/131008-Menaka-Gandhi-and-Animal-rights-acti\

vists-demanded-action-against-the-AIIMS.htm

*Delhi:* Animal rights activists including Menaka Gandhi, have demanded

action against the All India Institute of Medical Sciences for cruelty to

animals during tests. They have sought registration of FIRs against the

errant doctors.

The People for Animals, headed by Gandhi, has complained to Delhi police

Commissioner Y S Dadwal demanding FIRs against the doctors. The Organization

for the Protection of Animals (OIPA) has also joined hands with PFA against

the premier medical institution.

 

*Official failure*

 

According to OIPA, the Institutional Animals Ethics Committee (IAEC),

constituted under the AIIMS administration, has failed to minimise the

sufferings of laboratory animals kept in the animal house.

PETA has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking for an inspection

of the facility and immediate rehabilitation of the animals " languishing "

there for years.

 

*RTI filed

*

OIPA has also demanded information regarding the animals through an RTI

application filed with the AIIMS. It has raised questions on the number of

animals housed in the animal house, the number of animals rehabilitated

after completion of experiments and the types of experiments conducted.

 

According to OIPA, there are 68 monkeys, 90 rabbits, several sheep and an

ever-multiplying number of guinea pigs and rats that are believed to be sick

and dying in small cages at the AIIMS central animal facility.

Fifty of the 90 rabbits are suffering from an infectious skin disease, and

several animals, including a few guinea pigs, have gone blind.

 

*Litigation planned

*

Naresh Kadyan of OIPA told *MiD DAY*, " We have planned to move the court and

are getting support from many international animal rights organisations. In

a written complaint, we have asked the Delhi Police commissioner to look

into the matter and to take required action. We want to rescue the animals

and have sought explanation from the institute through an RTI application.

AIIMS has flaunted many rules as monkeys can not be used for breeding and

they have also not replaced the sick animals. "

 

*Rules in place

*

Using animals for medical research and testing drugs is permitted in India.

But it is covered by well laid down rules to protect animals from abuse.

According to the guidelines issued by the Committee for Purpose of Control

and Supervision on Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA) of the Ministry of

Environment and Forests, no animal should be used for experimentation for

more than three years unless there is adequate justification.