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Alfred and his two wives

By Helen Marston - posted Tuesday, 10 March 2020


A Necessary Evil?

Proponents of animal experiments inevitably peddle the imagery of sick children and terminally ill patients being more important than animals – hence the reason why (they say) animal research, no matter how cruel is unfortunately, necessary.  That argument however is gross misdirection and misleading at best  There would be very few people who have not been personally affected by cancer, Parkinson’s disease or stroke – either through the loss of a loved one or their own personal battles – but these people are precisely the reason why Australia should be embracing appropriate methods of research – not antiquated experiments based on a species which differs from us genetically, anatomically and metabolically.

It's further argued that animal research in Australia is conducted under the strictest scrutiny and follows the globally accepted principles of reduction, refinement and replacement known as the 3R’s principle

The research community constantly tells us that all medical experiments on primates in Australia are done with rigorous ethical procedures in place.   There is state legislation, a code of practice and a system of animal ethics committees (AECs) in place which exist to supposedly protect research animals.   Unfortunately these committees are often used to simply allay the concerns of the community and as an assurance that the animals are well protected.   HRA has uncovered many experiments that should never have been given approval via an AEC.  Frequently the animal welfare representative on an ethics committee does not have sufficient expertise to challenge the scientific validity of the experiment and therefore needs to rely on the researchers themselves to justify it. [Examples of experiments conducted after AEC approval are available on our website.]

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There is also too much pressure on the AECs to approve protocols in order for the research institutions to receive further funding.  The legislative measures that are currently in place to protect these animals are unfortunately failing.

Not only is this a cruel and unethical industry, it is a huge waste of precious resources – funding and time that would be better spent on research methods that are applicable to humans – not a pseudo-model of a human that is more likely to lead to erroneous data.

Lack of Disclosure

While technically some data on animal experiments  is publicly available, very few members of the general public are privy to animal research information.  Medical journals are often behind paywalls and or must be accessed only via university databases despite the majority of the research, and the breeding facilities themselves being funded by Australian tax payers.

Primate research is a hidden industry and it can be difficult even for those in the know to obtain information through Freedom of Information requests and even questions in Federal Parliament.

It has also been argued that animal experiments remain secretive due to researchers being personally threatened and attacked, yet opponents of animal experiments do not rely on protests or arguing on grounds of cruelty or abuse.  Organizations such as HRA wish to open up debate on the scientific merit of using animals as research tools and unfortunately are often denied this opportunity due to these unverifiable claims of fear for the researchers’ safety.

It’s a very convenient excuse to deflect attention or criticism of their work and to avoid accountability.

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Certainly animal experimentation is a very emotive issue to some and it’s understandable that members of the public will be deeply disturbed to learn what is going on behind lab doors, but HRA is not aware of any such incidents in Australia where researchers have been threatened by animal ‘liberationists’.   In fact HRA has approached the Australian Federal Police recently to ascertain if there had ever been such cases. No cases were found.

Thank You

Albert and his two wives have finally exposed this hidden industry.  Australians are now aware that we have three government-funded breeding facilities where these animals are bred specifically for research purposes.  The facilities, used to breed marmosets, macaques and baboons, currently hold around 750 primates in total, and 272 primates were used in the last recorded year (2017).

HRA’s view is that Australian researchers should be using non-animal methodologies that are far more relevant to studying human disease rather than trying to replicate a disease in a species that is genetically different to our own.  It is illogical to expect to use animals and achieve accurate or indicative results for humans.

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About the Author

Helen Marston is CEO of Humane Research Australia - a not for profit that challenges the use of animal experiments and promotes more humane and scientifically valid non-animal methods of research.


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