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Animal rights lobby plans protest at lab caregivers conference

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Animal rights lobby plans protest at lab caregivers conference

3News NZ

A Wellington gathering of the caregivers who look after animals used in scientific research has not been disrupted by protests staged by anti-vivisection protestors, says one of its organisers.

Protesters have said they plan a street protest tomorrow night.

Malcolm France, president of the Australia and New Zealand Laboratory Animal Association (ANZSLAA) said the conference at the Duxton Hotel was continuing.

"The protestors have not disrupted our conference," he told NZPA.

Mr France said the conference was for the people who looked after animals, not scientists, and most of the group's member had formal qualifications in animal care.

"It is inevitable that animals will continue to be used in research for the foreseeable future so it is important there are people who are dedicated to providing the best possible care," he said.

The conference included presentations on training of animal carers, improving animal housing standards and prevention of pain in animals.

A spokesman for the Wellington Animal Rights Network, Mark Eden, alleged the people at the conference were "directly responsible" for the deaths of thousands of animals in laboratories around the country.

"They should not be allowed to walk the streets and have conferences where they admire the surgery tools and cages on display, and talk about how they can improve their animal killing techniques".

Sydney-based Mr France said that as long as animals continued to be used in research, it was important that there were people with specialised skills in caring for them.

NZPA

 

 

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Comments

5/09/2009 10:07:36 a.m.

sue wrote:

In respnse to R Rosset ,actually animal research has hindered and delayed cures and medication for humans. Aspirin fails animal tests ,as does digitalis(a heart drug),cancer treatments,insulin (causes animal birth defects),penicillian and other safe medicines.They would have been banned if vivisection were heeded. Asbestos was tested on rabbits to no ill effect then released onto the market now we know its toxic to humans. Lemon juice is a deadly poison ,but arsenic,hemlock and botulin are safe according to animal tests. Rodents are the animals almost always used in cancer research .They never get carcinomas,the human form of cancer ,which affects membranes(eg lung cancer). Their sarcomas affect bone and connecting tissue;the two cannot be compared. I could go on and on with examples here ,so I will just post some websites; www.pcrm.org www.curedisease.net www.aahr.org.au The above websites are from a scientific view point and provide facts and figures from actual scientists of the really quite useless ,outdated use of animals in science ,when there are innovative valid alternatives. Less than 2% of human illnesses (1.16%) are ever seen in animals. Just lastly , more than 250,000 Britons are hospitalised every year by adverse drug reactions-the fourth biggest killer in the western world. http://vivisection-absurd.org.uk/50dis.html

4/09/2009 4:03:20 a.m.

R. Rosset wrote:

Every form of conventional medical treatment—including drugs, vaccines, and surgery—rests in part on the study of animals. This fundamental link is frequently not appreciated. Animals develop many of the same diseases as people, including hemophilia, diabetes, and epilepsy. Animals are also susceptible to many of the same infectious diseases as people, such as anthrax, smallpox, rabies and malaria. An animal is chosen as an "animal model" for research only if it shares characteristics with people that are relevant to the research. Louis Pasteur used dogs for studying rabies because the immune systems of dogs and people react to the rabies virus in the same way. Both dogs and humans benefit from the rabies vaccine. All species benefit from vaccine research. Mouse models were used to develop a vaccine to inoculate California condors against West Nile virus to save this species from extinction. Animal research has helped to develop drugs and vaccines to control and cure hundreds of infectious diseases. Until the 20th century, smallpox, polio, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, measles, and mumps maimed and killed millions of children every year. But due to animal research on vaccines, there has not been a single natural case of smallpox since 1977, polio has been eradicated, and whooping cough, tetanus, and mumps are rarely seen in developed countries. Recently, animal studies have helped developed new drugs for cancer and other diseases. Gleevec, is the first effective treatment for people and animals with chronic myeloid leukemia. Culture, animal, and human studies each play an important role in the struggle to understand disease and develop cures for all. Finally, it is important to recognize that basic research using these three types are needed to provide a foundation for future medical advances that benefit both humans and animals. The radical animal rights viewpoint based upon a mystic belief will only cause more suffering for both humans and animals.

3/09/2009 7:27:06 a.m.

barry wrote:

It is unacceptable that we allow in this country in 2008 ,341 520 animals to be experimented on behind closed doors ,in pain and secrecy. This is largely tax payer funded and includes dogs and cats ,animal experiments are outdated and serve only to line the pockets of shoddy scientists. www.nzavs.org.nz