ADI: Scotland goes ape - Every Scottish MEP backs call to end primate testing
02 Jul 2007
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.
More...
http://www.politics.co.uk/press-releases/zopinion-former-index/animal-welfare/adi-scotland-goes-ape-every-scottish-mep-backs-call-end-primate-testing-$475539.htm
