AR-News: Secrecy and vivisection

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From: hlssucks at yahoogroups.com ; 
Sent: Monday, July 05, 2004 7:56 PM
Subject: Secrecy and vivisection


Uncaged News Release
1st July 2004 - for immediate use


Secrets and lies

Uncaged attacks Government statement enshrining vivisection secrecy


Leading UK anti-vivisection group Uncaged has expressed disgust at the 
announcement today by Home Office Minister Caroline Flint to maintain a ban 
on disclosure of details of animal experiments. [1] The decision will do 
nothing to enhance the personal safety of animal researchers, and is in fact 
likely to make matters worse.


In refusing to repeal Section 24 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 
1986 – the so-called ‘confidentiality clause’ - the Government has chosen to 
ignore the recommendations for greater openness made by relatively 
conservative bodies such as the House of Lords Select Committee on Animals 
in Scientific Procedures [2] and its own advisory committee [3], as well as 
the entire animal welfare movement.


Having consulted on the issue for four years, the Government has decided to 
do virtually nothing. The appalling decision has come as no surprise to 
Uncaged, whose campaigns are completely non-violent. Campaigns Director Dan 
Lyons commented:

“The Government refused to endorse the findings of its own advisors and 
announced some months ago that it would discuss freedom of information 
solely with those who conduct animal experiments, so it is no surprise that 
they have decided to back the vivisection industry to the hilt. This is par 
for the course for a Government whose animal research policy is bent to the 
point of illegality.


The Government’s excuse – protecting the safety of scientists – is a 
complete red herring. Everybody in favour of the repeal of the 
confidentiality clause was happy for personal details to be removed from any 
information released. What’s more, at this moment anyone can walk into a 
library or browse the internet and obtain the names and work addresses of 
hundreds of animal researchers. As the Government probably realises, 
retaining Section 24 will do nothing to protect those involved in 
vivisection, but will keeping the public in the dark about the horrific 
reality of animal research.”


Confidential documents leaked to Uncaged from the Home Office and failed pig 
organ transplant firm Imutran, demonstrate what the industry has to hide. 
Uncaged won a two-and-a-half year legal battle to publish the documents 
having argued that it was in the public interest to reveal collusion, 
misconduct and illegal behaviour on the part of Government Inspectors and 
animal researchers. [4]


The documents included researchers’ records for hundreds of primates as they 
died following pig organ transplant experiments. They revealed that several 
primates were allowed to become so ill that they were “found dead” in their 
cages before they could be put down, in direct breach of the law. Other 
harrowing observations included:  “very distressed and having difficulty 
breathing… animal collapsed”;  “uncoordinated limb spasms”,  “suffered a 
stroke”,  “retching and salivating”,  “abdomen swollen and appears fluid 
filled. Salivating. Very laboured breathing. Extreme difficulty trying to 
walk”,  “large volume of bloody mucoid faeces”,  “Collapsed on cage floor, 
appears weak and unable to get up, breathing shallow and rapid, salivating, 
heavy lidded eyes, body and limb tremors”


The papers also included communications between Imutran and the lab where 
the research took place, Huntingdon Life Sciences. They revealed that 
monkeys were illegally re-used due to failures at the controversial 
establishment, as well as mistakes in the performance of the experiments 
such as a quadruple drug overdose. These mistakes should have put 
Huntingdon’s licence to conduct animal tests in jeopardy. The Parliamentary 
Ombudsman is currently considering two separate complaints against the Home 
Office over it failure to enforce the law in the Imutran research.


Amazingly, confidential Home Office papers - of precisely the type that the 
Government wishes to keep secret - were also published by Uncaged with the 
agreement of the research company themselves. Names of individuals and 
particular commercially-sensitive information were blocked out. Dan Lyons 
observes:

“Our victory in the Imutran case, and the format of the published documents, 
show that freedom of information can be achieved without highlighting the 
individuals concerned. Every time information leaks out of vivisection 
laboratories, we discover an appalling picture totally at odds with the 
image projected by the animal testing industry. The Government’s decision 
today is all about manipulating the public debate and hiding illegal 
cruelty.


Ironically, the more extreme and secretive the Government and animal 
researchers become, the more likely it is that activists will give up on 
traditional forms of campaigning and take matters directly into their own 
hands. If the Home Office and animal researchers are not prepared to play by 
the rules, thereby inflicting horrific suffering on animals, then they are 
hypocritical to complain about law-breaking by anti-vivisection activists.”


Uncaged also dismisses Government plans to publish ‘anonymised information’ 
about animal research as an “empty gesture”. Dan Lyons continues:

“This information will be produced by the Home Office and the animal 
researchers themselves: there will be no independent scrutiny to ensure that 
it is truly representative. Even supporters of animal experiments admit that 
researchers underestimate animal suffering and exaggerate the likely human 
benefit of their vivisection proposals. [5] We won our legal battle having 
argued that Imutran had misrepresented their research. These people simply 
cannot be trusted.”


-ends-


Recommended website:
www.vivisection-absurd.org.uk


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