ADI: Scotland goes ape - Every Scottish MEP backs call to end primate testing

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Monday, 02, Jul 2007 12:00

All Scottish MEPs - Alyn Smith, David Martin, Ian Hudghton, John Purvis, Struan Stevenson, Catherine Stihler and Elspeth Attwooll, have put their signatures to Written Declaration (WD) 40/2007 to put a stop to primate tests in Europe. They join 179 MEPs representing every country in Europe and every political persuasion, who have also signed the declaration.

The Written Declaration sponsored for ADI by MEP John Bowis, a former Health Minister in the John Major Government, calls for urgent action to end experiments on apes and wild caught monkeys and for the European Parliament to set a timetable to replace all experiments on primates (as it did previously with cosmetics testing on animals).

The campaign which aims to secure the backing of 393 MEP signatures by September is being stepped up by Animal Defenders International (ADI) in the lead up to the Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg starting on July 9th. This week an ADI report on the use of primates in experiments, translated into six languages, was hand delivered to every MEP who has not yet signed, with more activity planned next week.

Over 10,000 monkeys are used in European laboratories each year including approximately 1,000 monkeys that are snatched terrified form the wild. Plans have also been mooted by the European Commission to build a centralised chimpanzee super lab – a move ADI are desperate to block.

Jan Creamer, ADI chief executive, commented: “We would like to say a huge thank you to Scotland’s MEPs, and also to all of our supporters in Scotland who contacted their MEPs urging them to sign the Written Declaration. Scotland can be proud to be taking such a compassionate lead. Apes and monkeys are our closest relatives in the animal kingdom, we can clearly comprehend how these animals suffer inside laboratories. These tests, can and must be replaced by reliable human based research. This Written Declaration represents an important commitment to animal protection and towards science.”

Ian Hudghton MEP, Leader of the SNP Group in the European Parliament, commented: "A very large number of constituents from Scotland are deeply concerned at the continuation of primate testing, and I fully support this declaration calling for phasing out of the practice."

A Europe-wide Survey showed that 80% of respondents considered primate experiments as not acceptable.[1]

________________________ENDS ________________________

Written declaration on primates in scientific experiments 40/2007

Sponsored by MEPs Jens Holm, Rebecca Harms, John Bowis, Martine Roure and Mojca Drcar Murko .

The European Parliament, having regard to Rule 116 of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas more than 80% of respondents to the 2006 Commission’s public consultation on animals in experiments considered the use of primates in experiments as not acceptable,

B. whereas more than 10 000 primates are used in experiments every year in EU laboratories,

C. noting that almost all primate species share more than 90% of their DNA with humans and it is acknowledged that the primate species have a capacity to suffer greatly in captivity,

D. whereas 26% of primate species are in danger of extinction and wild-caught primates continue to be used in laboratories, in addition it may be difficult to protect primates from threats such as human consumption if it is perceived that these species are used freely by Western academic institutions,

E. whereas advanced technology and techniques now provide alternative methods that are proving to be more efficient and reliable than primate experiments, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), microdosing, computer modelling or tissue and cell culture,

F. noting that despite genetic similarities, there are important differences between humans and other primates, and primate experiments cannot match the precision of human-based study,

1. Urges the Commission, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament to use the revision process of Directive 86/609/EC as an opportunity to:

(a) make ending the use of apes and wild-caught monkeys in scientific experiments an urgent priority,

(b) establish a timetable for replacing the use of all primates in scientific experiments with alternatives;

2. Instructs its President to forward this declaration, together with the names of the signatories, to the Council, the Commission and the Member States.

Lapse date: 6.9.2007

Animal Defenders International (ADI)

With offices in London and San Francisco, Animal Defenders International (ADI) is a major international campaigning group, lobbying to protect animals on issues such as animals in entertainment and their use in experiments; worldwide traffic in endangered species; vegetarianism; factory farming; pollution and conservation. ADI’s evidence of the torment to animals has led to campaigns and legislative action all over the world to protect them. ADI opposes violence or intimidation whether directed at humans or other animals. http://www.ad-international.org