National Antivisection Society
Government condemns thousands of monkeys to brain damage horror
5th August 2003
The National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) is horrified that the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, has turned the tide in favour of experiments on primates, 21st November 2003, by giving the go ahead for a controversial new primate laboratory for Cambridge University on green-belt land. Backed by Prime Minister, Tony Blair, the neurological research facility, will sanction horrific experiments on the brains of hundreds of monkeys each year, to mimic the devastating symptoms of disorders such as schizophrenia, Parkinson’s or stroke.
Twice rejected by Cambridgeshire County Council, plans for the centre were championed by the government following the intervention of biotechnology mogul and science minister, Lord Sainsbury. The government’s decision ignores overwhelming evidence presented to the Cambridge Planning Inquiry in November 2002, by the NAVS, outlining key objections such as the species differences between humans and primates, and the availability of non-animal neurological research. 1.During the two week long enquiry, Cambridge University failed to offer any evidence to support the claim that the centre was ‘in the national interest’. The approval of the new lab comes as a devastating blow in the light of a decade long trend to scale down the use of primates in nervous system studies.
Jan Creamer, Chief Executive of the NAVS said: “It is an outrage that this centre is going ahead in the ‘so called’ national interest. It’s certainly in the interest of Cambridge University. They already receive nearly £15 million a year for neurological research and they stand to benefit further from the new centre and the suffering of these monkeys. 2
She added: “We’re hugely disappointed that the government has voted with its pockets, supporting cruel and unnecessary experiments, instead of directing precious resources to innovative advanced non-animal techniques."
Similar neurological experiments to those planned for the Cambridge facility have already been carried outpreviously, reporting a catalogue of appalling symptoms such as seizures, vomiting, diarrhoea, tremors and bleeding head wounds. Alternatives to these experiments are available. The NAVS has funded neurological studies on Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia, through its research wing, the Lord Dowding Fund (LDF). Leading charities such as the Stroke Association and the Schizophrenia Association of Great Britain do not support any research on animals.4
As part of the submission to the Cambridge Inquiry, the NAVS argued that:
The Cambridge Primate Laboratory was not in the national interest
Outside of Cambridge, scientists are committed to promoting the UK as a centre of excellence without the use of animals. The Neurosciences Research Institute at Aston University plans to open a new ‘Academy of Life Sciences’ in April 2004, working on behavioural and cognitive sciences, neurology, vision, ophthalmic and physiology optics.5
There are crucial species differences between humans and primates, often leading to misleading test results
- Anti-Parkinson’s drug, tolcapone (Tasmar) was withdrawn from the market in 1998 after being linked to deaths from liver disease.6
- Anti-depressant Seroxat was also linked to liver damage in 1997.7
- Clinical trials of a potential Alzheimers vaccine were suspended last year when patients began experiencing side effects to the nervous system. The vaccine had been hailed as ‘revolutionary… following encouraging tests on animals’.8
Primate facilities would be difficult to sustain in the long term
- Public concern about the use of primates, existing difficulties in primate supply and going against a ten year decline in the use of primates for experiments, all question the sustainability of a new facility. There was a 25% drop in the total number of primate experiments, from 5,284 to 3,986 between 1990 and 2001.9
The NAVS announced plans for a National Centre for the Replacement of Animals in Research. Backed by over 60 top scientists, including leading primate expert Dr Jane Goodall, a joint proposal was sent to MPs, scientists and other interested bodies, by the NAVS, LDF and the Hadwen Trust.10 The Lord Dowding Fund awards grants totalling a quarter of a million pounds each year to studies using non-animal methods.
References:
1 NAVS, Monkeys and Men, November 2002
2 An Appeal by the Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge Against the Refusal of Planning Permission by South Cambridgeshire District Council for the Erection of a Building for B1(b) Research Use, University of Cambridge, 2002
4 NAVS, The Good Charities Guide, 2002
5 NAVS, Monkeys and Men, November 2002
6 NAVS, Monkeys and Men, November 2002
7 NAVS, Monkeys and Men, November 2002
8 NAVS, Monkeys and Men, November 2002
9 Government figures
10 NAVS/LDF/Dr Hadwen Trust, A National Centre for the Replacement of Animals in Experiments, 2002
