(MY) no to animal research lab

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Tuesday April 20, 2010 - The Star

Animal welfare in research labs questioned

 

SAHABAT Alam Malaysia (SAM) wishes to express our opposition against the

proposed three animal experimentation laboratories to be set up in Rembia,

Alor Gajah in Malacca.

 

We deplore the exploitation of animals in painful and often largely

pointless research for optional human purposes.

 

SAM is concerned over the animal welfare or the suffering that primates and

laboratory animals undergo during scientific procedures and research. There

is no way that animals used for laboratory purposes can adhere to the “Five

Freedoms”: freedom from hunger and thirst; from discomfort; from pain,

injury or disease; from fear and distress and freedom to express normal

behaviour – if these animals are going to be incarcerated in cages and

subjected to research or toxicity tests.

 

Monkeys are wild animals and conditions in which they are kept in

laboratories are seldom adequate to meet even their most basic needs. They

are subjected to stress and fear at all times. Furthermore, the acquisition

of some macaques may involve capture from the wild to supplement

captive-breeding colonies. Capturing them causes huge distress due to the

trapping process, transport to holding or breeding centre, quarantine, and

adjustment to new social and environmental problems.

 

On the other hand, the import of beagles from Holland has raised concerns

over the conditions in which animals are kept in breeding and supplying

establishments for subsequent use in laboratories.

 

In France for instance, the French National Association against Trafficking

in Pets reported that about 60,000 dogs disappear annually, half of them

stolen for use by research laboratories.

 

Unscrupulous dealers will then target animal shelters to meet the demands

for drug and pharmaceutical testing. According to a report in the Advocates

for Animals Annual Review 1992, the Spanish Animal Defence Association

stated that more than 2,500 stray dogs and cats were taken each year from

Spanish animal shelters to laboratories in Germany and Switzerland.

 

The demand for beagles will certainly give rise to a disturbing trade in

stray and stolen dogs.

 

Another concern is the absence of legislation governing the use of animals

in research and experimentation. Currently, there are no provisions under

the Protection of Wildlife Act 1976 and the Animal Act (2006) to ensure

humane care, treatment and handling of animals used for research.

 

Moreover, the absence of access to laboratories and the veil of secrecy

surrounding the use of animals in research make it very difficult to monitor

what is being done to animals inside these establishments.

 

*S M MOHD IDRIS,*

 

*President, SAM,*

 

*Penang.*