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Animal testing in science - where to draw the line Australia has thankfully, so far, not been exposed to the type of violence and intimidation seen in Europe and the US against those scientists and organisations who use animals in their research. The good news is that things are getting much, much better in the UK although there is some way to go (see article). So should the scientists, animal technicians and veterinarians, meeting in Adelaide this week at the inaugural meeting of the new Australia and New Zealand Laboratory Animal Association, talk more about their work? Maybe yes, for three reasons: First, extreme tactics have already impacted other animal users in Australia (see article) and New Zealand (see article). Second, there is no reason to suppose that it's certain that extreme tactics won’t come to other areas, indeed even very close to home South Australia’s RSPCA is worried (see article) Third, one way to address this potential risk may be to do something that, perhaps surprisingly, both anti-vivisectionists and scientists can agree on; increase the visibility of animal research (see article). Of course anti-vivisectionists hope that increased transparency will turn the public away from using animals in research. But although new laws and strong police action have really helped turn the tide in the UK and US this is only part of the story. Academia, industry, unions, medical research charities all banded together to talk much more openly about the use of animals in research (go to www.medicalprogress.org), there has been a quiet revolution with institutions going public about their work. There have also been high profile student campaigns to support animal use and public petitions even being signed by Tony Blair. All this work means that support for animal use in research is actually much higher in the UK than in Australia. Whilst polls always need to be taken with a pinch of salt, in the UK 89% of people support research for medical purposes, with no suffering, for life saving diseases where there is no alternative (see article), whilst in Australia , 55% are reported as agreeing with the statement; ‘It is right to use animals for medical testing if it might save human lives’ (see article). So the discussion at this week’s conference is going to be interesting; what are the risks and benefits of greater transparency? Who owns this issue, and who should own it? Who is the audience, animal welfare and protection groups, or should it be direct to the public? It’s worth noting too that in the UK the Science Media Centre has both been a primary driver of presenting this issue of animal use to the media, and so the public. In addition it has held training sessions for large numbers of scientists and others on how to talk publicly about their use of animals.
------------- Comment If you are a scientist and wish to contribute to this Science Blog, please contact the AusSMC. The opinions expressed in this Science Blog are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the Australian Science Media Centre.
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