Proposed new primate laboratory at Girton, Cambridge . . .
Just when we thought we'd put this one to bed, Tony Blair has very kindly stepped in to overturn Cambridge City Council's decision to disallow planning permission for a new primate laboratory on the outskirts of the famous university city. . . Time for action!
(Text of an e-mail received from an AR supporter on Sunday, 26th May 2002.)
"I have been told that Blair has stepped in to overturn the planning decision regarding the primate lab at Girton in Cambs. Apparently, it was on TV yesterday (only pro-vivisection people were speaking) The original planning application was turned down as I expect they didn't want another Hillgrove type of campaign in their area. Lots of extra money will have to be found to fund the police at the many demos that will be sure to take place".
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BUAV report on cruel, barbaric primate experimentation at Cambridge University . . .
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
VIVISECTION EXPOSED!
BUAV reveals
horrific monkey brain experiments at Cambridge University
and accuses Home Secretary of breaking the law
The BUAV (British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection) has
today launched
the shocking results of a major 10-month undercover investigation
into one
of the UK's 'top' academic brain research centres, Cambridge
University,
which yesterday received government backing by the UK Prime
Minister Tony
Blair.
A BUAV investigator secretly filmed the pitiful plight of
deliberately brain
damaged marmoset monkeys. This is the first time the full in-depth
horror of
UK primate research has been exposed, and provides a unique and
chilling
insight into the reality of 'medical research' using animals.
The monkey brain experiments at Cambridge were allowed by the
Home Office to
be licensed under only the "moderate suffering"
category instead of the
clearly more appropriate "substantial suffering". This
means the licence
applications will not have gone through an extra ethical and
scientific
review by the government's advisory panel, the Animal Procedures
Committee
(APC). The BUAV's evidence clearly shows that these monkeys
endured
substantial suffering and yet the government has ignored it.
The BUAV believes the Home Secretary has therefore acted
unlawfully by:
* Underestimating the level of suffering in
applying the cost:benefit
test and licensing the experiments in the first place
* Categorising the research as "moderate
suffering"
* Failing to review the licences to reflect a
higher level of animal
suffering once the project was in progress
* Sanctioning housing conditions which breach
European law
The BUAV believes this is a clear example of how the Home Office
is allowing
animals in UK labs to suffer severe effects without that
suffering being
properly scrutinised and recorded.
The monkeys at Cambridge University were used in experiments for
Parkinson's
Disease, stroke and fundamental research into brain function. Yet
the BUAV's
evidence shows clearly how crude this "cutting edge"
research truly is, and
highlights the reasons why brain damaging monkeys is immoral. We
also
believe it is an outdated and flawed methodology.
Early this year Cambridge University's planning application to
expand its
primate research facility at a site in Girton, was turned down by
the local
authority. At the time Science Minister Lord Sainsbury gave the
application
government backing and said: "I confirm that the DTI would
regard this
proposal as nationally important. The UK has world-class
neuroscience, and
this Centre would consolidate the UK's position as a global
leader." Earlier
this month Cambridge University began an appeal against the
council's
decision to reject its application.
Yesterday at a speech to the Royal Society, Tony Blair defended
the research
at Cambridge by saying:
"... Cambridge University intends to build a new centre for
neurological
research. Part of this would involve using primates to test
potential cures
for diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. But there is a
chance the
centre will not be built because of concerns about public safety
dangers and
unlawful protests. We cannot have vital work stifled simply
because it is
controversial."
The BUAV contends that what the government is in fact stifling,
is the
public's right to the truth about the type of animal suffering
that is
permitted in this country.
The BUAV investigation at Cambridge University revealed:
* At Cambridge the marmosets are imprisoned in
small, metal, barren
cages with almost no environmental enrichment. Marmosets
naturally have
20-acre territories in Brazilian swamps & forest.
* The housing used at Cambridge contradicts
European law and UK
government Code of Practice recommendations
* Gruesome surgery that involved sawing open
the monkey's skull,
cutting and scraping away the muscle and then deliberately
damaging an area
of the brain by either sucking out sections, cutting, or
injecting toxins.
After that the skull was closed, the muscles glued back on and
the scalp
stitched together.
* Brain damaged monkeys suffered bleeding head
wounds, fits, vomiting,
severe bruising, whole-body tremors and mental and physical
disabilities.
* Some monkeys died following surgery or had to
be killed due to their
level of suffering.
* Experimental monkeys were made to learn
tedious and repetitive
"tasks" for weeks before brain damage.
* Following brain damage, other tests included
shutting monkeys in
tiny boxes, sometimes for up to one hour and giving them 'speed'.
* To make them 'work' for rewards, some monkeys
were kept on water
deprivation including being denied water for 22 out of 24 hours
and/or food
restriction.
* "Excess" babies were allowed to die
* Some brain damaged monkeys were left
unmonitored overnight for many
hours after surgery
* Staff callously commented that cutting off a
monkey's skull is like
"taking a lid off ... and plonking it back on again"
and that "it's good fun
to get them [the monkeys] to do different tasks."
Michelle Thew, BUAV Chief Executive says:
"The BUAV's Cutting Edge exposé throws the spotlight of
public scrutiny on
one of the most secret areas of animal experimentation at what is
claimed to
be a flagship laboratory. The public are continually told that
animal
experiments are vital to save human lives and that the UK has
strict
controls to ensure minimal animal suffering. This simply isn't
true. Here
at Cambridge we see hundreds of monkeys subjected to pitiful
conditions and
horrific, severe brain damage in cruel, outdated and
scientifically flawed
experiments. Animals like this suffer behind closed doors every
day but both
the government and the industry have been happy to deny the
public the truth
and mislead them about what really goes on in UK labs. The public
deserves
better, and so do the animals."
"We are appalled that the Prime Minister is prepared to
publicly defend
Cambridge University and the animal suffering that is going on
there,
particularly as we believe the Home Secretary has acted
unlawfully in the
licensing of these experiments . In his defence of this
institution, the
Prime Minister has chosen to stereotype animal rights campaigners
as
anti-science when the truth is any rational person would be both
utterly
appalled by the level of suffering permitted in these experiments
and
astonished by the unsophisticated nature of the science . Instead
of
disengaging with an increasingly sceptical public and keeping the
truth
about animal experiments hidden from public scrutiny, it's time
the
government started to be honest with the British people and to
listen to
their legitimate concerns."
The BUAV is demanding that Cambridge University's licence to
continue these
experiments be revoked. The Cutting Edge exposé marks the launch
of the
BUAV's Zero Option Campaign demanding an end to all UK monkey
experiments.
In 1998 the UK government banned UK experiments on great apes
because of
their sentiency and capacity to suffer. The BUAV believes the
same should be
true of all animals, but at the very least the UK government
should extend
the great ape ban to include all primates. The time has come to
stop their
suffering - it's time for the Zero Option
The BUAV will be holding a series of public meetings around the
UK to
present its disturbing evidence of animal suffering at Cambridge
University,
including undercover footage from the investigation. If you would
like to
attend any of the meetings (below) please email the BUAV on:
[email protected]
London
Date: May 27th
Location: London Metro Cinema, Leicester Square
Time: 7.15pm
Cambridge
Date: May 28th
Location: Royal Cambridge Hotel, Trumpington Street
Time: 7.15pm
Cardiff
Date: June 11th
Location: County Hall, Cardiff Bay
Time: 6.30pm
Bristol
Date: June 12th
Location: "At Bristol", Bristol Harbour Side
Time: 7pm
Exeter
Date: June 19th
Location: Picture House
Time: 7.15pm
Southampton
Date: June 20th
Location: Picture House
Time: 7.15pm
Manchester
Date: June 25th
Location: Film Works, Dantzic Street
Time: 7.15pm
Birmingham
Date: June 26th
Location: Electric Cinema, Station Street
Time: 6.30pm
Edinburgh
Date: July 2nd
Location: Dominion Theatre, New Battle Terrace
Time: 6pm
Seats subject to availability. For further details about
locations, contact
the BUAV.
For a Cutting Edge info pack contact:
British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV)
16a Crane Grove
London N7 8NN
UK
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