ADI Animal Defender Magazine Spring Summer 2012 by Animal Defenders International

ISSN: 2041-3653

Spring/Summer 2012 Magazine of Animal Defenders International and the National Anti-Vivisection Society

DefenDer

● New UK law on animal experiments ● More countries ban animal circuses ● UK promises wild animal ban ● Circus owners in court ● Jorja Fox takes on the elephant abusers ● Animal rescue news

Editorial

www.navs.org.uk HELP ANIMAL DEFENDERS INTERNATIONAL (ADI) Toto the chimpanzee was imprisoned in a circus for 25 years, forced to smoke and perform tricks for human entertainment. Animal Defenders International rescued Toto, returning him to Africa where he now lives with a new chimp family. We investigate, expose, produce scientific reports, rescue and secure laws. Please make a bequest today to Animal Defenders International.

See also our move for CCTV to be installed in animal labs. CCTV is a common part of daily life in the workplace and in our streets, so there is no reason for it to be rejected in places where vulnerable animals are in the hands of people licensed to inflict pain. In this issue, we celebrate victories for the Stop Circus Suffering campaign, with Greece, Ecuador and Paraguay joining Peru’s recent ban. We have also tabled a Bill for a ban before the US Congress. It almost defies belief that the UK, of all countries, is still stuck in the mud on this one – as Defra ministers look for excuses and fight both public and Parliament on it. I also write this after sitting for an entire day in the witness room at Corby Magistrates Court, but today we learn that the trial of the owners of Anne the elephant will now be delayed until November. Let’s dig in folks, keep going. There is light at the end of the tunnel and animals need us to keep going!

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For a free guide to making a Will and helping animals, call us today on 020 7630 3340 ANIMAL DEFENDER ISSN: 2041-3653 published by Animal Defenders International and the National Anti-Vivisection Society incorporating The Campaigner, published by the National AntiVivisection Society ©2012 ADI. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced for commercial purposes by any means whatsoever without the written permission of ADI/NAVS.

Millbank Tower, Millbank, LoNDoN, SW1P 4QP, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7630 3340 Fax: +44 (0)20 7828 2179 e-mail: info@ad-international.org web: www.ad-international.org Editors: Jan Creamer & Tim Phillips Board: Mr N. Brice Ms A. Brice Ms J.Creamer Ms P. Dibley Mr T. Phillips Ms M. Windebank

The Animal Defender & Campaigner

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Spring/Summer 2012

Through the Lord Dowding Fund, we fund non-animal scientific research. Please make a bequest today to the National Anti-Vivisection Society.

Our investigation of the MRC GM mouse factory with some 65,000 animals shows just how disposable these animals are – discarded with the rubbish by the sackload. We are often the only protection these animals have – and certainly the only ones to tell their story.

Millions of animals suffer and die each year, in experiments that cannot be trusted. Imagine a life imprisoned in a cramped cage – a lifetime of suffering and fear. It doesn’t need to be like this. The NAVS works to end the use of animals in research and replace them with sophisticated techniques, more relevant to people. We investigate, produce scientific reports, educational materials and videos.

HELP THE NATIONAL ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY (NAVS)

We’re approaching the end of a ten year campaign over the new rules for animals in research. A huge concern over the implementation of the new European Directive into UK law, has been the drive by the animal experimentation community to exploit every loophole to strip animals of the meagre protection they already have. So we are pleased that the Government has finally announced that it will retain most of the UK’s ‘stricter measures’; but surely, this line in the sand could have been drawn earlier. On the other hand there is still a lot to fight for, as the Government’s plan incorporates the bare minimum of the better aspects of the Directive.

Where there’s a WILL there’s a WAY to help suffering animals

With so many long-running campaigns for animals coming to critical points at the same time, we barely have time to draw breath, although it is a good place to be, as it means that progress for animal protection is moving ahead on many fronts.

ANIMAL DEFENDERS INTERNATIONAL: Founded 1990. To educate, create awareness, and promote the interest of humanity in the cause of justice, and the suppression of all forms of cruelty to animals; wherever possible, to alleviate suffering, and to conserve and protect animals and their environment. NATIONAL ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY: Founded 1875; the world’s premier anti-vivisection group. The NAVS advocates the total prohibition of all animal experiments, and, pending the achievement of this aim, we may support partial measures which would provide steps towards reform. LORD DOWDING FUND: Founded 1974; a department of the NAVS; sponsors non-animal scientific and medical research.

NAVS & ADI

New law on animal experiments

The long campaign in Europe on these new regulations gained some significant ground; access to information, ending the capture of monkeys by dealers, ways to challenge animal experiments like thematic review, retrospective reviews of experiments. We managed to hold at bay some of the calls from industry, such as complete deregulation of animal research. The new UK law will be framed by the Directive but there is scope for interpretation. The Directive will govern experiments in countries like the UK, Germany and France where millions of animals die, as well as smaller countries such as Malta. It therefore allows for the details to be tailored to each country; nevertheless the intent of this Directive was to increase not reduce animal protection, improve public transparency and accountability, and move towards replacement of animal experiments. Whereas, the vivisection industry has attempted to seize on every

This year, all EU countries will introduce new legislation on animal experiments in compliance with Directive 2010/63/EU. The UK government has trumpeted their big move on lab animal welfare – the UK will not actually dismantle the little protection lab animals have. Sad to see the ambition is so low.

New UK law on animal experiments loophole to make it easier and cheaper to experiment on animals. Despite Home Office boasts about what has been achieved, it has been a long hard battle to retain the little protection currently in place for laboratory animals. In May, the Government finally announced: “...we propose to 'copy out' most of the provisions of the Directive. There are, however, a number of areas in which we intend to retain current stricter United Kingdom standards. For example, we propose to retain special protection for dogs, cats and horses as well as non-human primates and to retain all current UK care and accommodation standards that are stricter than those set out in Annex III to the Directive.”

Key Demands While participating in the regular Home Office consultations and meetings, we’ve been educating the public and parliament with our ‘Cutting Edge not Knife Edge’ campaign to move policy to nonanimal replacement methods. This resulted in 13,000 people participating in last summer’s Home Office public consultation. In December, a delegation from NAVS, Animal Aid, PETA, Humane Society International, Four Paws, LDF and ADI presented Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone with some key demands. Tim Phillips, NAVS Campaigns Director gave a

presentation on each area and later presented them to the Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare at the House of Commons. 1. No current laboratory animal protection to be downgraded. 2. greater transparency, accountability, and mechanisms to challenge animal research: • More information about animal experimentation made public; with accountability for experimenters and those policing them. • Licensing process to be open with mechanisms to challenge animal experiments. • Retrospective review of all animal experiments to determine scientific value and true suffering of animals. • No blanket secrecy; repeal section 24 (secrecy clause) of the current Act. 3. No reduction in current requirements for the justification of proposed animal experiments. 4. Establish mechanisms for the implementation of alternatives: • The licensing process must drive forward the implementation of alternatives – if a non-animal method is available in the UK for all or part of the research it must be used • Increase the availability of alternatives. 5. Thematic review of animal experiments to set targets for replacement. 6. Restrictions on use of Non Human Primates in research and ending the wild capture of primates for research.

The Animal Defender & Campaigner

Spring/Summer 2012

New law on animal experiments • Proscribing certain uses of primates. • Early implementation of the prohibition of use of F1 monkeys (born of wild-caught parents).

The Good, Bad & Ugly in the Government’s Proposals The Government response to the public consultation indicates the direction being taken in several areas.

The good: The UK will retain standards of husbandry currently exceeding the new Directive. Some inhumane killing methods will still be prohibited. The ban on the use of great apes will remain – the “safeguard clause” exemption allowing special applications for use of apes is not being adopted. The current licensing controls will not be dismantled. Foetal birds and reptiles will now be protected during the last third of normal development and all cephalopods protected once independently feeding. Animals bred for tissues will be covered. There are more commitments to the 3Rs (refinement, reduction and replacement) but we’ll need to work to ensure this is not window dressing. There will not be retrospective reviews of all experiments but since there are currently none, the Directive has at least forced a step forward.

The bad and the ugly: Multiple generic licences will continue to be granted. This already happens with regulatory testing by contract research laboratories like HLS, but can now be expanded to other areas.

The Animal Defender & Campaigner

There is a loophole on the prohibition of the use of stray or feral animals allowing experiments in certain circumstances. The time foetal mammals are protected will reduced. Re-use of animals following procedures classed as ‘severe’ may be allowed. The ban on F1 primates will be delayed as the Home Office supports a “feasibility study” for the timetable. Another delay – and monkeys will continue to be torn from the wild until a ban is enforced.

Help fundraise for research without animals For almost thirty years, the LDF has supported the replacement of the use of animals in research – advancing medical research and saving animals. Help us do more. Can you help with our annual street collections in July and August? Please give us a call on 020 7630 3340 or email us at info@navs.org.uk.

Not yet decided: Thematic review is under consideration and in March, the NAVS submitted a detailed proposal, which has Minister Lynne Featherstone’s support for the concept – specific animal experiments to be reviewed and timetables set for replacement. The notorious secrecy clause of the current Act, S.24 is on hold, the Home Office wants to decide at a later time. There are restrictions on primate experiments, but the Home Office will not define what they are; it will go back to the European Commission. Sadly the proposals indicate no commitment by the Government to seize the opportunity to drive forward the replacement of animal experiments and greater public scrutiny. Rather, the bare minimum is being undertaken and in some instances advantage has been taken to ease restrictions on animal experiments. Overall, disappointing and much more pressure is needed on MPs.

Action: Write to your MP, tell them you are: – disappointed about the delay on ending use of F1 primates – unwarranted delay in overturning the secrecy clause, S.24 of the current Act – stray or feral animals are not properly protected – more effort is needed for bringing in advanced non-animal methods – you want to see implementation of ‘thematic review’, where specific experiments will be examined and timetable set for replacement. See our list of other demands, on p3.

Spring/Summer 2012

Fundraise and help the environment! ADI can benefit from the recycling of mobile phones and printer cartridges at your place of work, through Recyling Appeal, see www.recyclingappeal.com and click the ‘Recycle Now’ button for instructions. To ensure the funds your recycled items raise are directed to Animal Defenders International, insert our name in the ‘Collecting For’ field. Or, call 08451 30 20 10 to join Animal Defenders International’s Recycling Appeal. We will receive around £1 for every used printer cartridge and around £5 for every used mobile phone donated with our name as beneficiary.

Please support our 2012 raffle Enclosed are tickets for our prize draw. Please note that the draw deadline has been extended to August 30th. This is an important fundraising effort and has our biggest ever prize fund! All of the money raised will go towards our animal rescues and you have a great chance of winning. So please help by buying or selling the tickets. 2011 Winter raffle winners: These were the lucky winners from our last draw: 1st prize – £1,500 – to Ms Thelma Nye 2nd prize – £500 – to Mrs Iona Strachan 3rd prize – £250 – to Miss PR Bowring Runners up were Mrs A. Heath and Mrs Valerie Shaida.

NAVS & ADI

An LDF survey of European universities has found that thousands of animals including mice, rats, guinea pigs, frogs and dogs continue to be used in unnecessary teaching practicals, when humane alternatives are available.

Vision Express is in discussions with ADI over their use of animals in advertising. We hope that they, and other companies, will adopt a policy of never using exotic animals for future ad campaigns.

NAVS/LDF Chief Executive, Jan Creamer, told the media: “It is often claimed that no one would ever use animals if they did not have to. Yet here we see an utter disregard of the available alternatives and for animal life. There needs to be a clear political Europe-wide commitment to eradicate the use of animals in university practicals.” It is particularly disappointing that the UK had the fourth highest levels of animal use in teaching after Romania, France and Spain. The most commonly used animals are mice, rats, guinea pigs, and frogs – with dogs still being used in Macedonia and Spain. Jan Creamer: “These are basic practicals, teaching known facts in subjects like pharmacology. The data that the student needs to analyse, understand and participate in the practical can be generated using the computer simulations we have developed. Students have been securing degrees in these subjects using humane alternatives for more than two decades, animals should not be dying in this way.” The authors of the report, Professor David Dewhurst and Dr Akiko Hemmi, believe this study could be the most comprehensive survey to date, particularly in those countries where there is no systematic collection of animal use data. Professor Dewhurst said: “Globally there are ethical objections to the use of animals in bio/medical sciences training and there are good, robust alternatives available, which have proved to be educationally effective. I used computer-based alternatives in my own teaching for many years. They were well-liked by students, freed more of my time to diagnose students’ learning problems and provide additional tuition during a practical class, and saved considerable time and money.” ADI & NAVS

The US series ‘Luck’, starring Dustin Hoffman, has been cancelled following the deaths of three horses on location at Santa Anita Park racetrack in California. Public outcry over the deaths of the first two horses went largely ignored by the producers. However, following the death of a third horse, they announced production would cease. Some say that poor ratings didn’t help. © Animal Defenders International

Survey reveals animals killed in university teaching, despite available alternatives

An oxford nightclub planning to use a zebra for a May Day event cancelled the booking following opposition from locals and ADI.

A Ten Minute Rule Motion tabled by Sheryll Murray MP calling for the keeping of primates as pets to be prohibited was supported by ADI. It is estimated that 2,500–7,500 primates are kept as pets in the UK. © Animal Defenders International

We commissioned researchers from the University of Edinburgh to conduct a Europewide survey on innovative teaching and learning in pharmacology and physiology in higher education in ten European countries: UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland, Holland, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Republic of Macedonia. We asked about current animal use and use of computer-based replacements. While advanced computer simulations for university practicals have become increasingly sophisticated over the past twenty years, many universities continue to use animals. LDF has been at the forefront of developing replacements for animal use in teaching and our programmes have been updated for worldwide use. LDF funded teaching suites in the UK have saved thousands of animals. However, this survey makes it clear that much more work needs to be done to educate educational institutions to move on to advanced, non-animal teaching methods.

It is with sadness that we announce the death of Billy, the hippo who lived at Chimfunshi, where Toto and family reside. Billy came to the Siddle family in 1992, when she was only 5 days old, her mother having been killed by poachers.

Campaign News

In Cameroon, a new virus closely related to HIV has passed from apes to people, reigniting concerns that the bushmeat trade is a major gateway for animal viruses to cross the species barrier and, through the export trade, spread worldwide. AIDS, the worst pandemic of modern times, which has claimed over 30 million lives, is thought to have begun in west central Africa as a result of the bushmeat trade.

The Animal Defender & Campaigner

Spring/Summer 2012

Campaign News

Don’t support charities that fund vivisection Get the NAVS Good Charities Guide

Circus owners in court following ADI investigation Following a fifth hearing for legal arguments in June at Kettering Magistrates Court, District Judge Chinnery ruled that the trial of Bobby and Moira Roberts is to proceed in November. The charges relate to video recordings of Anne the elephant, taken by ADI at the Bobby Roberts Super Circus winter quarters last year. Charges include: 1. Causing the elephant to suffer unnecessarily, by requiring the elephant to be chained to the ground at all times, contrary to section 4(1) of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (AWA). 2. Failing to take reasonable steps to prevent their employee from causing unnecessary suffering to the elephant, by repeatedly beating her, contrary to section 4(2) of AWA. 3. Failing to take reasonable steps to ensure that the needs of the elephant were met to the extent required by good practice, contrary to section 9 of AWA. ADI released the undercover investigation in 2011 showing Anne chained, and beaten by workers. Public outrage led to Anne being removed from the circus. ADI bore the huge costs of the investigation and preparation of the legal case, ready for it to be taken forward by the Crown Prosecution Service. This is the first trial of a circus under the new AWA. It will test whether the Act’s intention, that owners be held responsible for the daily life of their animals, can be upheld. The three previous circus cruelty convictions in the UK were also secured by ADI also, but under the previous legislation.

When confronted with a charity collector in the street or on your doorstep, it’s difficult to know what is meant, exactly, by claims that your donation will go to vital medical research. Little is said about the ethics and checks on that research, especially how it is conducted. For example, Alzheimer’s Research UK spends around 30% (£1.35 million) of their research budget on animal research. A study funded by the British Heart Foundation involved invasive surgery on rats and mice and used zebra fish embryos to study the Check out the effect of a human gene on blood vessel formation. And Guide online here did anyone contributing to Diabetes UK imagine that they might be contributing to an experiment in which rabbit penile tissue was used to study the mechanisms of erectile dysfunction in humans? The NAVS Good Charities Guide tells you whether individual charities fund experiments on animals. The charities are rated according to their animals use: the ‘Good’, the ‘Bad’ and those who will not disclose their policy. The NAVS advises that if a charity is not prepared to say whether they will or will not experiment on animals, they don’t deserve your money. Support the LDF instead! The good news is that the good guys outnumber the bad by 75 to 50 (with 18 ‘Undetermined’). If you know a charity that you would like us to approach on your behalf, do let us know. A pocket sized copy of the guide is available (just call 020 7630 3340) or you can view it online.

Circus master Gerry Cottle now supports a ban An unexpected ally in our campaign to end the use of animals in travelling circuses has come to the fore – circus impresario Gerry Cottle. Years ago, ADI was locked in battle with Gerry Cottle’s Circus (both in public, and legally), as it toured with elephants, lions, monkeys, and llamas. However, we must now applaud Mr Cottle for saying that the time has come to end the use of wild animals in circuses. Touring with his new human only circus, Cottle says he has “reluctantly decided to move on”, conceding “The animal issue has given circuses a bad name.” “Sad as it is for me to say, I now support the ban,” said Mr Cottle. “Times have changed and this issue has to be decided one way or the other. I believe a ban will, in the end, improve the image of circuses in Britain.” Tim Phillips, Campaigns Director of ADI, “We have said for a long time that the tarnished image of the animal circus is holding back the circus industry as a whole. Every time our undercover investigations catch savage brutality in the circus, like that meted out to Anne the elephant, or the elephants with the Great British Circus, then people come to associate that with the big top. “The longer the Government delays implementing the ban the more harm they are doing to animal welfare and the wider circus industry.” There was similar good news last year when the Chipperfield Circus, previously exposed by an ADI undercover investigation, finally became an animal free show.

The Animal Defender & Campaigner

Spring/Summer 2012

NAVS & ADI

Campaign News

Jorja Fox takes on the elephant abusers in new ADI video ADI Ambassador Jorja Fox (CSI’s Sarah Sidle) has released a new video for ADI, calling for an end to circus animal abuse. The 90-second video tells the story of Krissy, an elephant torn from the wild in Africa who ended up in an American circus. Here an ADI undercover investigator filmed Krissy being dragged to her knees with a bullhook before being kicked in the face by her Texasbased handler, Mike Swain, who continues to work with elephants, including Krissy. Krissy and her companion Queenie/Boo were also hit with a golf club and electric shocked with a stun gun, to make them move quickly to performances. Krissy is currently giving rides at fairs and other events. The brutal scenes are juxtaposed with breathtaking images of a family of wild elephants living free in Zambia.

WATCH THIS!

You can see Jorja’s video on ADI’s youtube site here: www.youtube.com/animaldefenders, or simply scan this QR code on your smart ‘phone. Please pass it on to a friend or family member.

“This is a bullhook. It’s heavy, it’s sharp, and it hurts. This is the weapon of choice for elephant circus performers. It is used to get elephants to perform tricks to amuse people.”

To scan this code with your smartphone, download the ‘QR Reader’ for iPhone app or the ‘Barcode Scanner’ for Android app from your app store.

Elephant trainer crushed in Ireland When Courtney Brothers Circus began touring with five elephants, parading the animals through town centres, Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN) warned of the risks. First there was a near escape, then a young elephant escaped, running through a public carpark and onto a road. Over 30 experts including field researchers, zoos, scientists and animal ADI & NAVS

protectionists attending the Summit for Elephants signed an ADI statement calling for an end to the use of elephants in circuses, “This week’s escape of an elephant from Courtney Brothers Circus in Cork, Rep. of Ireland, could have easily resulted in disastrous consequences for both local people and the animal.”

Two days later, whilst attempting to break up a fight between two elephants, a trainer was crushed and hospitalised. Jim Conway, general manager of Courtney Brothers Circus, told the Irish Times: “.... two elephants were jostling outside the circus and a trainer happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." Campaign partners ADI and ARAN launched Stop Circus Suffering Ireland in 2007, and are pressing for a ban. John Carmody of ARAN: "With the frantic images of the elephant trying to escape .. from the circus, people are realising that circuses with animals have no place in Irish society. The writing is surely on the wall for those still clinging onto archaic animal acts."

The Animal Defender & Campaigner

Spring/Summer 2012

Campaign News

Elephant rides halted in California Following the release of our undercover investigation of Have Trunk Will Travel (HTWT) last year – who we caught on camera beating and electric shocking elephants – a series of event organisers have ended elephant rides after campaigns by ADI and our supporters. The City of Santa Ana ended over 25 years of elephant rides at the Santa Ana Zoo; the town of Sierra Madre cancelled a parade appearance by Tai (the HTWT elephant in ‘Water for Elephants’); Orange County Fair and the Los Angeles County Fair both ended years of HTWT elephant rides and Fountain Valley Recreation Center Easter celebration has also stopped the rides. ADI is keeping up the pressure and urging other event organisers to end their HTWT elephant rides, too.

North Lanarkshire Council and East Ayrshire Council have banned animal circuses following ADI submissions. Over 200 UK local authorities now have bans in place. The European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) has produced an online guide to alternatives to animal research, enabling researchers to ascertain whether alternatives to specific animal experiments exist.

ADI case in the European Court of Human Rights In March we presented our case to the Grand Chamber of the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in an attempt to overturn a law preventing ADI and NAVS advertising on television in the UK. “At present the law effectively bans the broadcast of any advert on a matter of controversy, by anyone seeking to do something about that issue. So whilst primates and other animals can be used to sell products, it is not permitted to create awareness about the impacts on those animals. Our commercial advertised a pack which outlined the threats to primates. It was banned not because of content or accuracy, but because of who we are. Our case revolves around the freedom of a company or organisation to enter into a national debate on television or radio – and the right to freedom of speech.” The iniquity of the situation was highlighted by the fact that at the same time soft drinks giant Pepsi was using a performing chimpanzee in a TV commercial, whereas ADI’s TV advert creating awareness about the suffering of performing chimpanzees was banned. The case was heard by seven judges and the ruling is awaited.

The European Commission has yet to commit to an eight-hour journey time for animal transport, despite animals arriving dead and injured at European slaughterhouses.

Slaughter workers prosecuted

ADI gave several presentations at the Summit for Elephants organised by the Performing Animal Welfare Society at Oakland Zoo, California, together with experts from sanctuaries and field researchers. This year saw an increase in the number of zoos in attendance, confirming a steady shift in attitudes towards captive elephants – and the consensus that circuses are no place for these animals.

Kari Johnson, co-owner of Have Trunk Will Travel, watches in silence as the Orange County Fair Board sees video of her beating an elephant. After viewing the shocking ADI video, the Fair Board voted 6 to 1 to end the elephant rides.

our work on the EU phase out of cosmetics testing on animals continues. ADI and NAVS presented our objections to a suggested relaxation of the marketing deadline for cosmetics, to the European Commission. Allowing the deadline to slide would commercially disadvantage those companies that have already committed to the ban. Maintaining the ban would only affect new products until a non-animal method is developed. MEPs at the Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals discussed the matter in May.

The Animal Defender & Campaigner

In April, two former slaughterhouse workers pleaded guilty to offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and were jailed, after being caught on cameras placed in a slaughterhouse by Animal Aid. One man admitted three charges relating to stubbing cigarettes out on the faces of pigs, the other admitted to beating the animals with excessive force. The prosecutor described how one pig was hit more than 30 times in 62 seconds, including around the head. The men were sentenced to six and four weeks. Their prison terms were reduced because they had pleaded guilty. The case has led to plans to introduce CCTV into some slaughterhouses in an attempt to eradicate such abuses (p.17).

Spring/Summer 2012

NAVS & ADI

Campaign News

For Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson, Water for Elephants was a romantic fantasy, and they have moved on to the next glamorous project. For Tai it was a nightmare reality, and she remains in the hands of those that ADI caught on film abusing her, Have Trunk Will Travel (HTWT). Tai is back in the circus, performing the same tricks seen in the film. ADI recently filmed her and Rosie (the HTWT elephant star in Zookeeper with Kevin James), with El Zagal Shrine Circus, in Fargo, North Dakota. At the circus, HTWT trainer Joanne Smith confirms that the two elephants are Tai and Rosie. We released new footage showing the circus performance alongside the brutality that created those tricks. In the footage taken at HTWT, Smith is seen electric shocking the elephants with a stun gun, and hitting and hooking them, saying to our investigator, “Don’t you be takin’ pictures of me hookin’ on them”. Last year ADI released the footage of abuse at HTWT after the makers and stars of Water for Elephants, American Humane and HTWT, claimed Tai was treated Robert Pattinson photo © Eva Rinaldi with love and affection Reese Witherspoon photo © U.S. Department of State Kevin James photo © www.Promiflash.de - Bitte bei Bildverwendung auch Link setzen and never abused. At the time we believed that Pattinson, Witherspoon and the film makers had likely been duped. We sent them the video and asked them to speak out. Not a word. We sent the video to the studio, producers and director. No reply. Letters were sent to the makers of Zookeeper and its star, Kevin James. Again, no response. The new video is posted on the Facebook pages and Twitter feeds of Pattinson, Witherspoon and James, asking them to support ADI’s campaign and speak out against the abuse of performing animals in movies. The abuse is not going to stop until the stars speak out. What you can do: Contact ADI for our movie letter writer’s action pack: by email info@ad-international.org or by phone 020 7630 3340.

WATCH THIS! You can see our new video here: bit.ly/watchnohollywoodending or simply scan this QR code on your smart ‘phone. ADI & NAVS

World Week for Lab Animals: The main focus in the UK and Europe was the implementation of the new EU Directive on animal experiments. Tens of thousands of leaflets were distributed. We also raised awareness in the USA and South America – pictured is our protest in Colombia.

ADI calls for stars to end silence on abuse of animal actors

Donald Trump’s sons, Don Jr. and Eric, were pictured on the Hunting Legends website, having killed an elephant, leopard, crocodile, waterbuck, kudu and a buffalo whilst on safari. on recent reports of the world’s first ‘chimeric’ monkeys at the Oregon Health & Science University’s Oregon National Primate Research Center (pictured), ADI US Campaigns Director, Matt Rossell who spent two-years undercover at the facility, “What I saw there changed me forever and I came to recognise the social, intelligent monkeys at the facility as individuals, and that they were being treated like little more than furry test tubes.”.

Elephants on and Witherspoon, Pattins e circus James back with th

ers International © Animal Defend

No Hollywood ending for Tai and Rthoatsistaerred with

In January the government rejected plans for new laboratory beagle breeding units in Yorkshire. The local council had rejected the planning application by B&K Universal in 2011; the NAVS gave evidence. B&K Universal appealed. A review by the Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government upheld the Council’s refusal and the application was rejected.

We Bought A Zoo, featuring Matt Damon, met with objections from ADI and the Ape Alliance (of which we are a member) about the use of wild animals in the movie.

The Animal Defender & Campaigner

Spring/Summer 2012

The government’s strategy on wild animals in travelling circuses became a farce with the confusing announcement in March that they intend to ban wild animals in circuses, but in the ‘interim’ would introduce inspections and licensing. Clearly, a ban is being avoided at all costs – including a hugely expensive ‘interim’ scheme. Once even the most ineffectual inspection regime is introduced, with all the costs, time and training, it is unlikely to be dismantled later on, meaning animals will continue to suffer. The Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) announcement was so misleading that it was widely reported as a ban and even some animal groups welcomed the news. A ban is postponed indefinitely, hence the ‘when parliamentary time allows’ caveat. No legislation or regulation has been drafted to ban wild animal acts, nor is there a timetable to do so.

and public during the votes on the Animal Welfare Act 2006; a ban on wild animals was promised, so amendments were withdrawn on that basis. Will the Act ever be used to end abuses as we were told it would? Independent legal opinion is that a ban on the use of wild animals in circuses can be introduced under section 12 of the Act. Now, Defra has pulled out a flawed and discarded internal report, based on a muddled examination of the issues during a working group consultation. The process used was so ludicrous that, on the day the report was presented, Defra confirmed the method had not been used to examine other issues, and it would not be used again. In contrast to this one shambolic document, there is a respectable body of scientific opinion that animals suffer in travelling circuses. Together with MP Fiona O’Donnell, ADI Chief Executive Jan Creamer and Campaigns Director Tim Phillips met with Defra minister Lord Taylor to point out the failings of inspection regimes. We provided the minister with case studies of a number of inspections, dating back a decade, which failed to uncover evidence of poor husbandry, excessive

No legal obstacles to a ban Last year, the Government’s excuses for refusing to introduce a ban included that there might be a challenge from Europe, citing a challenge to Austria’s ban, but the Austrian courts upheld their ban. Next up was that it could be challenged under the European Services Directive, or the Human Rights Act. Wrong again. By March this year, Defra was perfectly placed to introduce a ban under the Animal Welfare Act – again they refused. Defra has made a nonsense of the undertakings given to both Parliament

Presenter Alex Lacey leads an inspector past a beastwagon where a seriously injured lioness is concealed, behind bales of hay and shutters that a worker pretends to clean.

The Government announces intention to ban but, instead, introduces inspections

Circus Madness

chaining of elephants, injured animals and abuse – all detailed in our ‘Out of Control’ report. Ms O’Donnell, “Last year parliament voted unanimously for a ban on wild animals in circuses with the backing of 95% of the public. Despite conceding that a licensing scheme is second best, Lord Taylor has not provided any reassurances about when the government will bring a ban in. The government needs to listen to the overwhelming view of the public, animal welfare experts and Parliament and get on with setting a timetable to end this cruel practice.” The Government’s refusal to end the suffering of wild animals in travelling circuses is inexplicable. It brazenly flies in the face of the public will and last June, Parliament’s Backbenchers’ Committee called on the Government to introduce a ban by June 2012. The response was on 1st March 2012; Defra launched another consultation, this time on a regulatory regime for wild animals (there are no plans to provide protection for domestic species such as dogs and horses). Whereas the 2010 Defra public consultation gave respondents the option to support either a ban on wild animals, or inspections,

THANK YoU to all those who protested, distributed leaflets and wrote to your local paper when an animal circus came to town.

Inspections will not protect animals

Left: When the inspectors visit there are no chains to be seen and no abuse is taking place. This page: With no inspectors present the elephants with the great British Circus are in chains and savagely beaten. this latest consultation gave no such choice. Last time, less than a third of respondents supported inspections, while 94.5% supported a wild animal ban. It appears that if the first answer is not liked, we must do it again, with different questions.

Animal groups refuse consultation ADI studied the 2012 consultation document in detail to establish whether it was in fact possible for it to reach a fair conclusion. It was not. Effectively it only allowed for tacit support of an inspection regime that will not protect animals from the abuses we have exposed. We therefore contacted our colleagues in animal welfare and protection groups in the UK and all agreed there was no benefit to animal welfare by our participation. Defra’s 2012 circus licensing consultation was therefore boycotted by ADI, Animal Aid, Born Free Foundation, Captive Animals Protection Society, Four Paws, OneKind, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. We cannot support the introduction of an expensive and ill-conceived licensing regime; nor can we endorse measures that we believe will fail to protect the welfare of animals and are likely to lead to continued, and perhaps increased, suffering of vulnerable animals for years to come. All animal groups are agreed – the proposed licensing regime would be a step backwards for animal welfare.

Defra’s proposals will be expensive and will not prevent animal suffering. In fact they may lead to an increase in suffering due to an unjustified sense of public confidence in an expensive and inadequate regime. Given the circumstances of constant travel, with animals contained in small, lightweight, mobile accommodation, travelling circuses cannot provide wild animals with the environment they need. In the UK, inspections have failed to pick up on animal husbandry deficits and cases of abuse. It has been left to ADI investigators to find out how these animals are actually treated. The ADI ‘Out of Control’ report revealed sick and injured animals have been hidden from inspectors; excessive chaining, water restriction and abuse have gone undetected. The failings of inspection regimes in the U.S. are noted in the 2010 Inspector General’s USDA APHIS Audit Report. In 2009, inspections by Defra, police, RSPCA and local authorities failed to identify elephant abuse and chaining at the Great British Circus. An ADI camera filmed the circus concealing the chains before an inspection; the beatings continued afterwards. Neither would inspections have discovered the abuse of Anne in 2011 at the winter quarters of Bobby Roberts’ Super Circus, now the subject of a prosecution of her owners for failings under the Animal Welfare Act.

A ban, when? The Government’s statement on 1st March indicated, “work to set out the ethical basis for a ban will proceed alongside the development of a licensing scheme.” But the consultation and Impact Assessment (IA) does not include provisions supporting this commitment. Indeed the IA does not contain any reference to such a ban being the aim of Government policy. Lord Taylor confirmed to us that no such legislation has been drafted. The cost of the licensing scheme is excessive and a wasteful, temporary solution. Defra’s IA (2009) advises that the associated costs for the potential regulator are £7,680-£11,500 per year and for the circuses, £129,000-£190,000

ADI Out of Control report shows how Defra’s proposed licensing regime will leave circus animals just as vulnerable as before. Available at: http://bit.ly/y3l5Gg

ADI & NAVS

Stop Circus Suffering Sir Paul McCartney: “I hate to see wild animals in circuses. It is heartbreaking to see these poor animals confined in small cages and carted around the country with no respect for their welfare and well-being. I believe an outright ban is long overdue". Brian Blessed: “Government needs to do the honourable thing and implement a ban as soon as possible to prevent further animal suffering. We have presented them with strong evidence and it is now time for them to get on with it.” Ann Widdecombe: “It is time for Defra to stop dragging its heels while the rest of the world takes the lead. Wild animals don’t belong in circuses.” Alexei Sayle: “There are many grey areas in matters of morality – using wild animals in circuses is not one of these. It is simply and obviously wrong and indefensible. The sooner this blot on a civilised country is eradicated the better it will be for all of us" Meg Mathews: “The ADI footage of poor Anne the elephant being so cruelly treated made me sick. It’s time for this government to take action to end the suffering that animals endure every day in UK circuses.” Brian May: “The use of wild animals in circuses is cruel, distasteful and unacceptable in the 21st Century. We at Save-Me call on David Cameron personally to act now, and take a step towards making Britain worthy of its desired status as a nation of animal lovers." Ricky gervais: “ADI’s footage of Anne being beaten graphically displays why the Government should ban wild animals in circuses. It is high time that Government got on and implemented one."

The Animal Defender & Campaigner

Spring/Summer 2012

Stop Circus Suffering

ADI Freedom of Information complaint exposes secret inspections

one-off improvement costs. The latest IA advises that one-off costs will be £75,600 and annual costs £19,400. Thus, costs over ten years would be £269,600. Considering the economics of the travelling circuses, there are concerns that the taxpayer will incur greater costs than indicated. Each week the animals’ habitat changes as it moves location, yet there is no plan to visit every location. In pursuing a poorly drafted licensing regime that sets standards at far too low a level, the government is ignoring animal welfare organisations, the public and parliament. The government’s actions are undemocratic, irresponsible and a waste of public funds. only the animal circuses welcome these regulations.

If an inspection regime is to be forced upon an unwilling parliament and concerned public, we wanted to know what this might mean in reality, the scope, time spent on inspection, level of detail, etc. With Defra putting forward its new regulatory regime for consultation, this was of immediate public interest. Defra blocked our requests for their circus inspection reports. ADI therefore made a Freedom of Information Act application (FOIA) last summer, for Defra’s circus inspection reports from 2008. This was refused, for spurious and unfounded reasons, including “s.38 health and safety” and “s.41 information provided in confidence”. The excuse provided on health and safety grounds (s.38) was of particular interest – Defra cited a local newspaper report about threats to Bobby Roberts’ Circus following the Anne exposé – dated after our original application! We objected and requested an internal review of the FOIA decision, pointing out that the ‘evidence’ Defra provided on their health & safety (s.38) point did not exist at the time of the application. Furthermore, on the confidentiality grounds (s.41), the Great British Circus (GBC) had already published details of the inspections in their show programme – using them in just the way we had predicted inspections would be used, as a whitewash. Defra conducted an internal review and again, refused our application. ADI therefore lodged a complaint with the Office of the Information Commissioner and MPs Peter Bottomley, Mark Durkan, Jonathan Edwards, Kelvin Hopkins and Adrian Sanders, joined by 53 MPs of all parties, demanded the Government release the circus veterinary inspection reports on the basis of legitimate public interest, on Early Day Motion (EDM) 2586. In May this year, the Office of the Information Commissioner agreed that Defra had correctly applied s.41 (confidentiality) to the report concerning Peter Jolly’s Circus but that it had incorrectly applied sections 38 and 41 of the Act (health and safety and confidentiality) to the two reports concerning the GBC. Defra was instructed to release the reports on the GBC in 2008. The (rather scant) reports noted: animals unable to express normal behaviours; little space; below standard cat enclosures; cubs born while on the road; group-living animals kept isolated; camels and reindeer kept indoors all winter, no access to fields; rabbits kept in poor quality, tiered accommodation. The inspectors expressed concern about the welfare of dogs and horses not being included in their remit (the Government’s proposals do not include domestic animals). Secret and toothless inspections with little or no public accountability. Unless of course it serves the circuses to use them for their own promotional ends. Who would have thought it?

Where do we go from here? EDM 2563, calling for a ban on wild animals in circuses, sponsored by MPs Jeremy Corbyn, Gordon Henderson, Kelvin Hopkins, Caroline Lucas and Sir Bob Russell was signed by 90 cross party MPs. ADI is working with committed MPs who raised over 30 Parliamentary Questions between November and January. The Government can either immediately bring forward a ban under regulations under the Animal Welfare Act, or, make parliamentary time to pass primary legislation – knowing MPs will back it. When Parliament was first promised a ban in 2006, ADI launched a drive for legislation in Greece. Greece has now banned all animals in circuses and joins over 20 countries with national measures on circuses. The UK has stood still. Responding to a question on 11 June, from Alun Michaels MP, Defra reaffirmed there is no timetable for a ban.

What can YOU do? The most important thing to do today, is to write to your MP. – Ask for a wild animal circus ban – Ask your MP to press the Prime Minister to propose a ban this year. – Distribute our animal circus leaflets and posters. – Hand them out to friends, colleagues, local shops, or library. Now is the time to take action, before it is too late!

The Animal Defender & Campaigner

Spring/Summer 2012

NAVS & ADI

D E N N BA

The Greek Government has banned the use of all animals in circuses following a six-year campaign by ADI and the Greek Animal Welfare Fund (GAWF), backed by over 50 local animal protection groups. The new animal protection law also addresses a number of important issues concerning stray animals. During the campaign we filmed horrific misery, such as a hippo confined in a small, filthy cage on the back of a truck with a stinking pool barely bigger than a bathtub. The Greek campaign, like many others around the world, really took off in 1998 with the launch of ADI’s ‘Ugliest Show on Earth’ video – the world’s first long-term deep undercover investigation of animal circuses. The exposure of the suffering of animals in UK and European circuses and winter quarters shocked the world. It resulted in three unprecedented cruelty convictions in the UK. Over the next few years, it helped campaigners to secure bans in towns and cities in South America, the US, Asia, the UK and Europe. Some national bans were gained, too, such as Singapore and Costa Rica; others followed. And towns such as Thessaloniki in Greece acted quickly. In 2006, we decided to build on the successes in Greece and press for national legislation. Armed with a new investigation in Greece, we joined forces ADI & NAVS

Stop Circus Suffering

Victory! Greece bans all animal circuses with GAWF and produced special campaign materials. A series of media launches were held in succession in Crete, Thessaloniki and Athens. More bans in towns and cities followed, in Patras, Xanthi, Eleftheron, Kavala, Glika Nera Attikis, Elefsina, Lamia and Nea Makri, Thermi, Kalamaria and PrevezaMalia, Kalamata, Serres and Aridea Pellas. Footage of animals suffering in circuses in Greece, including an elephant being beaten and dragged with a bullhook at Circo Massimo in Florina, disgusted the public and people wanted action.

Over the next four years a national schools writing and painting competition included hundreds of entries condemning circus suffering. By 2010, the Ministry of Agriculture indicated that there would be a ban; it took two more years to secure it. Greece is the second country in Europe, behind Bosnia and Herzegovina, to ban any and all animals from circuses. Austria and Croatia currently have bans on wild animal acts, and several European countries including Portugal and Denmark have measures to ban or phase out wild animals in circuses. Bolivia was the first country to introduce a national ban on any and all animals from circuses. This led to the ADI enforcement operation with the Bolivian wildlife authorities, rescuing every animal (lions, primates, other wild animals and horses) from circuses that defied the law. ADI and GAWF are committed to assisting the Greek Government with enforcement of the ban. Please help us continue to expose and end the suffering. Please donate.

The Animal Defender & Campaigner

Spring/Summer 2012

Below: ADI Campaigns Director Tim Phillips is interviewed during a series of launches across Greece.

D E N N BA

Victory!

Paraguay and Ecuador ban wild animal acts When we first placed our team of field officers deep inside the South American circus industry in 2005 for two years, we could never have dared imagine that our findings would send such a shock wave across the entire continent. Following the launch in 2007, governments have acted decisively to end the suffering. Some of the most shocking scenes of the investigation were filmed in Ecuador: monkeys living on chains in squalor; a bull being beaten to his knees; the elderly lion Indiano (above), in a cage little bigger than his body, being dragged and kicked; a donkey being kicked and dogs being repeatedly beaten.

Paraguay Paraguay has become the latest country to ban the use of wild animals in circuses. Resolution 2002/12, issued by the Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment (Secretaría del Medio Ambiente), was issued in early June. All shows (public, commercial or ‘educational’) are banned. Although animal circuses can transport their animals across the country, they cannot exhibit them in public. ADI is in touch with the authorities to offer any assistance necessary.

Ecuador Ecuador’s Ministry of Environment has issued Ministerial Regulation 0062, which: protects wild animals from acts or omissions which would cause suffering, injury or degrade the animals; bans the use of native wild animals in circuses; restricts and regulates exotic wild animals through welfare conditions; closes Ecuador’s borders to circuses with native or exotic wild animals; bans acts that could cause harm to animals and cruelty in training; prohibits breeding of exotic wild animals. ADI is in liaison with government officials about further provisions. Bans and restrictions are also in place in Bolivia and Peru; legislation is being discussed in Colombia, Brazil, Argentina and Chile, with campaigns in other countries under way.

The Animal Defender & Campaigner

Spring/Summer 2012

Stop Circus Suffering Colombia moves closer to circus ban

Bill 52/2011 which prohibits the use of exotic, wild and domestic animals in travelling circuses and provides for penalties for violations, has passed successfully through Colombia’s House of Representatives. It has cross party support, with sixteen members of different political parties signed up. Tabled in August 2011 by Rep. Augusto Posada of the Colombian Congress, the Bill now moves on to the Senate. The ADI team (above) campaigned intensely all day and then saw the Bill pass this important second stage.

Bogotá bans animal circuses However, leading the way in Colombia is the capital city, Bogotá. The Mayor’s new Development Plan included a ban on the use of animals in circuses within the capital and this passed overwhelmingly, with 36 votes in favour and just 8 against. ADI Bogotá congratulates Mayor Gustavo Petro (pictured below with ADI’s Eduardo Peña), the city councillors who made this possible, especially Councilman Roberto Saenz, and the local animal organisations and citizens who worked alongside us to achieve this ban. ADI’s campaign to end the use of animals in circuses in Colombia began in 2007 with our shocking undercover investigation. A particularly brutal incident involved a female chimpanzee named Karla, who was punched in the face and whipped with a chain by a trainer. In circus after circus, we uncovered traumatised animals living in inadequate, barren and unnatural conditions, with little space to exercise and display natural behaviours. Animals were also kept together with incompatible species, resulting in a lack of social interaction.

ADI launches Bi

s s e r g n o C . .S in U to ban

s e s u c r i c n i wild animals Eighteen months of painstaking drafting and preparations led up to the final two days in Washington D.C. when, on 2nd November 2011, ADI and the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) launched H.R. 3359, the Traveling Exotic Animal Protection Act (TEAPA). Introduced by Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA), ADI Ambassadors Bob Barker (award winning TV host of The Price Is Right) and Jorja Fox (actress, known to 73 million CSI viewers as Sara Sidle) presented the bill to the media, together with Jan Creamer of ADI and Ed Stewart of PAWS. The packed press conference was streamed live online and watched by over 3,000 viewers. Congressman Jim Moran described how the bill would ban the use of exotic and wild animals, “The intent is to restrict the most egregious and inhumane conditions” adding, “How we treat animals is a reflection of our nation’s moral character.”

ADI Chief Executive Jan Creamer spoke of the scientific studies and the video and photographic evidence gathered in our undercover investigations, which underpins H.R. 3359. Jan introduced the new ADI video, which showed a flurry of undercover scenes with elephants, tigers and other wild animals in US circuses being viciously hit, hooked and shocked by their handlers. The animals pacing endlessly in tiny cages, or straining at the end of short chains, gave attendees a brief glimpse into the misery that makes up the life of circus animal. PAWS co-founder Ed Stewart gave the perspective of a sanctuary caring for wild animals noting that any captivity is a compromise, “I can tell you right now: there is no state-of-the-art keeping animals in captivity. The state-of-the-art is Zimbabwe, and India, and the wild.” ADI consultant Dr. Mel Richardson, a wildlife veterinarian with more than 40 years experience, “There is no way you can provide the physical, psychological, social wellbeing of any wild animal in a travelling situation.” Cameras flashed as CSI star Jorja Fox spoke

eloquently about whether circuses provide an educational experience for children, concluding that children “would actually be very disappointed in us for bringing them to these places.” TV personality Bob Barker anchored the event as he passionately described the training and lifelong suffering of circus animals. Ten co-sponsors of the bill signed up immediately, putting the bill on its path through Congress, and ADI is prepared for a long, hard journey to victory. Representative Moran summed up in his response to a question about the likelihood of success:

“Anything that’s worth doing is not likely to be easy. But we know it’s not going to happen if we don’t make the effort.”

Above: Making history - our packed press conference at the US Congress.

Below speakers addressing the launch of the new Bill (left to right): Congressman Jim Moran; ADI Chief Executive Jan Creamer; PAWS co-founder Ed Stewart; actress Jorja Fox; ADI veterinarian Dr Mel Richardson; Celebrity and philanthropist Bob Barker.

gM animals have been heralded as a new research tool. The animals are given a deliberate genetic defect; prolonged suffering arises from repeated surgeries, egg collection, implantation, repeated blood and tissue testing. They live in tiny spaces, in sterile, barren environments with no stimulation. The GM process itself can cause longer pregnancies, higher birth weights, increased deaths at birth.

The Animal Defender & Campaigner

Inside a GM animal factory

Spring/Summer 2012

loss of up to 30%; cataracts and other eye problems; mutants with extremely short faces and upturned noses caused by abnormal bone growth; self harm, such as animals chewing through their own skin and congestive heart failure which caused one mouse to swell to about three times normal size3. On one occasion, female mice aged 3.5+ weeks were put to mate with males about three times their size. The older males tried to mate with the females who became distressed and vocalised3. On another occasion, an animal had to be killed following fighting. As with many of our previous undercover investigations, there were examples of cage “run outs” (where water leaks into the cage). This leaves the animals in wet cages, which can result in severe cold, discomfort and even death. One mouse had suffered a run out and its feet and face had become bright pink. It appeared to have hypothermia and so was killed3. © National Anti-Vivisection Society

Finally, there is the effect of the genetic defect itself – severe health problems, mutations, premature death. only 3-5% of the babies actually have the desired genetic defect, so huge numbers are killed and discarded. The main animal facility at the Mammalian Genetics Unit at Harwell can house 65,000 mice2. The problems of over breeding and an inability to manage colonies, coupled with staff inadequacies, meant keeping control of the colonies was almost impossible. The NAVS investigator noted confusion in the breeding of mice and signs of copulation in females being missed, resulting in unplanned litters3. On one occasion a young male mouse had been mated by his father and when he removed the “copulatory plug” from his anus, half the hair around his bottom also came away. Parents also attacked and ate their pups. The NAVS investigator attempted to prevent the deaths of some small mouse pups by leaving them with their mothers a little longer, but was reprimanded and told to accept that ‘some will die’3. The aim of most GM projects is to create animals with a particular trait, in order to “model” human conditions – animals are intended to be abnormal in some way. Deformities and abnormalities included: severe limb deformities; fused lung lobes; Huntington’s disease (HD) mice with hard lumps in their abdomens, strong tremors, immobility, priapism (painful swelling of the penis) and weight

References: 1. Rose, M (2009) “Welfare Phenotyping of Genetically-modified Mice” ATLA, vol. 37, pp: 181-186. 2. Contemporaneous notes 07/08. 3. Contemporaneous notes 06.

Body count at MRC Harwell: The death toll of Britain’s GM industry runs into millions.

genetic modification (gM) has been the biggest growth area in animal experimentation for two decades. More than half of the experiments in the UK are now on genetically modified and harmful mutant animals – 1.6 million. These are the animals the animal research community want to scrub from the records. An undercover investigation by the NAVS takes you inside the Medical Research Council (MRC) Mammalian genetics Unit in Harwell, oxfordshire. This is the reality of a gM factory churning out animals that are discarded by the sackload.

Investigations

! d se

Who is there to watch them? Home Office studies plan for CCTV monitoring in animal labs

A joint proposal by NAVS and Animal Aid for the introduction of CCTV cameras in animal research establishments is under consideration by the Home Office. The plan has already been discussed at recent meetings between ourselves and officials responsible for animal experiments, and was included in the NAVS response to the Government Consultation on the new EU Directive 2010/63, last summer. Representatives of the biomedical research industry are now to be approached by the Home Office to test their reaction to the scheme. We believe the current Home Office inspections represent only a snapshot into laboratory practice, and therefore cannot reflect day-to-day activity nor prevent serious abuse. The proposals have been given added weight after supermarkets insisted that their slaughterhouse suppliers install CCTV – a scheme backed by the Food Standards Agency. This followed an Animal Aid investigation of nine slaughterhouses using fixed hidden cameras, which led to two people being convicted of cruelty to pigs – see p8. ADI investigations have shown animal circuses making a complete mockery of inspections – see p10.

An NAVS field officer captures on film a laughing animal technician at Oxford University, swinging a mouse by the tail and smashing the animal into a desktop. But who is there when we are not, in this most secretive area of animal suffering in the world?

Who is there to watch them? Undercover investigations by the NAVS in UK laboratories over the past decade have highlighted animal abuse, lack of care, and problems that were not identified in routine Home Office inspections, including: oxford University: Technicians laughing and joking as they smashed mice against bench tops to kill them and animals torn open by hand to have their organs ‘harvested’. Huntingdon Life Sciences: Monkeys suffering prolapses due to stress after being restrained; monkeys being experimented on in front of other monkeys, against proper practice. Institute of Neurology: A cat dying after suffering for days when the animal received inadequate post-operative care. Charing Cross & Westminster Medical School: A laboratory losing its Home Office licence after the NAVS revealed living animals thrown into dustbin bags for disposal. CCTV in animal labs is a cost-effective way for the Home Office to meet its regulatory obligations, especially at a time when the department faces budgetary cuts that could reduce the number of inspections of licensed premises. CCTV cameras could also help address growing public scepticism about regulatory controls and animal protection in laboratories. A 2009 Ipsos

MORI poll found that 31% of people did not trust the process, while 65% ‘would not be surprised’ if unlicensed experiments go on behind closed doors. The Home Office employed 21 full-time inspectors to assess and police the 3.7 million experiments conducted during 2010. Armed with a Home Office licence, laboratory employees can undertake procedures that would otherwise render them liable to prosecution under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, including poisoning, brain damage, and the introduction of cancerous tissue and lethal pathogens. It is unlikely that negligence, or wanton cruelty, would take place in the presence of an inspector and therefore must surely go undetected. CCTV cameras would enable there to be a record in the event of complaints either from our investigation or whistle-blowers. Huntingdon Life Sciences have simply denied the level of prolapses in the monkeys that our investigator recorded. Spot checks of footage could also assess the day to day care of the animals – and could deter some abuse. The Home Office reports annually on serious violations of licence conditions. Examples in 2009-10 included animals being inadvertently starved to death, drowned, decapitated, suffocated, poisoned or killed by overheating.

The Animal Defender & Campaigner

Spring/Summer 2012

At the Institute of Neurology, the NAVS investigator recorded how cats undergoing nerve experiments received inadequate postoperative care. Subsequently, the Home Office confirmed that the project had been suspended, briefly, and that two postoperative cats had been euthanised. However, one of our most important questions was never addressed: why was the licensee not overseeing the cats after such a serious operation? The Home Office inspector was present at the laboratory on the day of the post mortem of one cat, but had not been present for the two days following the operation when the animal was suffering, nor when the animal was euthanised, four days before the inspector’s visit. CCTV would, in this instance, clearly have enabled the inspector to have assessed the actual levels of postoperative care and oversight by the licensee, giving a much fuller and more candid picture than the post mortem results and accounts given by laboratory personnel.

Two HLS workers pin down and test on a monkey – in sight and hearing of other monkeys (contravenes guidelines).

Most of these ‘infringements’ are selfreported and therefore probably represent a small proportion of the true number. Despite such infringements occurring each year, only once have legal proceedings been started by the Home Office. This followed national television coverage of dogs being slapped, and admissions by laboratory staff of the fraudulent generation of data. Because of the high level of public mistrust about the regulatory process, our proposal calls for an independent committee to monitor footage. Members would include a veterinarian, independent scientists, animal behaviour and welfare experts, and representatives from animal welfare groups. One or more full-time specialist staff would view randomly selected sequences of footage obtained from establishments on a rolling basis, and report back. The Home Office itself would have access to all footage. NAVS Campaigns Director, Tim Phillips said: “This proposal will not end all the terrible suffering of animals in laboratories, but it represents a small, practical step. At a stroke, cameras monitoring animal research facilities

The Animal Defender & Campaigner

could eliminate some of the gross abuses, mistreatment, poor handling, or animals being killed and experimented on in front of others. With the right independent oversight there is an opportunity here to change how animal experiments are policed in the UK and bring it more in line with public expectations and concerns. Animal laboratories are bristling with security cameras, they have multiple checks and screening to ensure journalists or undercover investigators cannot get inside, all we are asking is that some of that security be employed to protect animals.” Animal Aid Director, Andrew Tyler: “Laboratory workers conducting animal experiments have a special dispensation to inflict the kind of suffering on animals that would ordinarily get them locked up. That places on them, and on the Home Office, which authorises the activity, a duty to take every possible step to reduce animal suffering. No lab worker is going to engage in gross unauthorised cruelty in front of an inspector. But CCTV cameras can pick up such behaviour. Better still, they can prevent it. Gross incompetence is also more difficult to conceal and cover up if cameras are watching. Cameras are now going into slaughterhouses because the public and key sectors of the food industry itself demand it. With the public also deeply sceptical about what goes on behind the locked doors of labs, the case for installing CCTV in vivisection establishments is overwhelming.” The NAVS/Animal Aid proposal is also endorsed by Four Paws and OneKind.

Spring/Summer 2012

Tim the Hor When we arrived to seize eight lions in one cage from the Cavallini Circus at San Borja, Bolivia, things became heated. There was shouting, shoving, a knife was produced by the circus owner and the tyres of the trailer were slashed. In the middle of it all, a worker pointed to a brown horse tied to a tree – he was the lions’ dinner. We said nothing, but the horse was not going to be left behind. Once Bam Bam, Morena and their starving family, Marta and Maria, cubs Rosita, Rosario and Rosa and their deformed, sickly brother Campeon, were secured, Jan approached the little brown horse. Jan: “I slipped over to him while everyone was working on the truck. He was quiet, with gentle brown eyes. We simply had to take him. I called to Tim Phillips and to the son of the circus owner and said we would

Research Without Animals New model for breast cancer research

The Lord Dowding Fund has teamed up with researchers at the University of Leeds on a ground breaking, all human model of breast cancer. Our primary aim is to validate two in vitro models – a 3D cell culture model and a tissue slice model. The 3D cell culture model is the first to contain the 3 major epithelial (lining) and stromal (connective and supporting) components of the breast. The human breast tumour tissue slice model will allow validation of the 3D culture model, ensuring that it retains MCF-7 model characteristics representative of the original tumour. showing the cellcell adhesion Data produced so far has been encouraging, and marker econfirms that the 3D model is a good representation cadherin. of living breast tissue. The team has also obtained samples of both normal and tumour containing breast tissue, and successfully cultured the samples for up to 7 days. These in turn have been treated with different doses of three breast cancer drugs – tamoxifen, doxorubicin and exemestane. Dr Valerie Speirs, who leads the team at the Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine (LIMM), part of the University’s School of Medicine, said: “We are very grateful for the grant from the LDF which has enabled us to carry out this important work. Breast cancer is a complex disease with several different molecular alterations involved in its development and progression, so we need a comprehensive approach and look to ultimately improve the efficacy of target-based therapy in breast cancer. We are excited about this project, which cannot easily or accurately be replicated in animal models, and are very happy to support the ethos of the LDF.” These models will be validated against published data, to show that they are viable replacements for animals. Moving medical research towards these advanced methods is good for people and animals, this project highlights the vital role our LDF plays in developing modern research techniques.

rse

ADI & NAVS

Europe’s first paediatric MEG scanner

take him with us and find him a home. I named him after our Tim! “This was a remote area, we’d flown in by light aircraft. The lions were heading away on our truck, but now we had a horse and if we left him behind I was sure he would be someone’s dinner. Half our team were flying back to Santa Cruz, others were now on the road with the lions, and five of us were stranded in San Borja because we could not fly at night – and now we had a horse! “Luckily, a local offered a field behind his home – another kind gesture from the many Bolivians who supported our rescues. The grandparents of one of our team owned a ranch where wild and semi domesticated horses were running free – somehow we would get Tim there. “One of our field officers stayed with Tim, obtained a vehicle and veterinary certificates, arranged for a farrier to trim Tim’s hooves, and finally transport Tim to his new home in the Trinidad Region. We don’t like to leave anyone behind.“ Gentle Tim the horse took a while to settle into his new home and find friends – he was too timid to join the wild horses, but found a friend of his own, Rosita. A stray foal has joined them so he now has his own family group. They wander the countryside on the ranch in Trinidad, doing as they please.

A brain scanner specifically for children – currently one of only three in the world – forms part of pioneering new research facilities at Aston University in Birmingham. The Aston Brain Centre (ABC), which opened in October, brings together a unique suite of equipment and facilities for brain research, from child development to ageing, all with support from the LDF. The Centre specialises in areas including epilepsy, dyslexia, autism, ADHD, sleeping disorders and metabolic disease. The ABC will also provide a referral service for the National Health Service (NHS), providing innovative diagnostic services unavailable within the NHS. Speaking at the launch, Director Professor Paul Furlong, said: “Aston University has a 40-year track record of research leadership in the study of brain development and imaging. Our team of scientists will be working to understand how the brain works in health and disease, using the latest technology to study all aspects of brain function throughout a person’s life from individual brain cells through to the whole brain.”

New Science The latest issue of New Science, the magazine of the Lording Fund for Humane Research, is available now, with news of our current research projects and the latest developments in nonanimal research techniques and projects. New Science is sent to all LDF contributors but is also available on request to NAVS and ADI supporters. If you would like a free copy please call 020 7630 3340. The Animal Defender & Campaigner

Spring/Summer 2012

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I would like to join ADI, NAVS and LDF’s efforts to end animal abuse and suffering around the world. Please complete this form in BLOCK CAPITALS, using a ball point pen, and return by post to Animal Defenders International, Millbank Tower, Millbank, LoNDoN, SW1P 4QP, UK.

Name: ...................................................................................................................................................... Address: ................................................................................................................................................................................ .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Postcode: ................................................................................................... We are sometimes asked by similar organisations if they may write to our supporters. We would allow this only if the organisation is reputable. This allows us to raise funds for our work, if you DO NOT wish your name to be included, please tick here ■

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* A donation of £25 or more gets you a year’s subscription to our magazine and other mailings

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■ Please sign me up for ADI, NAVS and LDF email alerts! My email address is ...................................................................................................................................................................................... ■ I would like to give on a regular monthly basis, please send me more information. ■ Please send me more information about Animal Adoptions. Please send me ■ 5 ■ 10 ■ 25 ■ 50 ............... (other) Stop Circus Suffering leaflets. Please send me ■ 5 ■ 10 ■ 25 ■ 50 ............... (other) Animal Experiments the Facts leaflets. Please send me ■ 5 ■ 10 ■ 25 ■ 50 ............... (other) Huntingdon Life Sciences EXPOSED leaflets. Please send me ■ 5 ■ 10 ■ 25 ■ 50 ............... (other) Animal Adoption leaflets. Please send me ■ 5 ■ 10 ■ 25 ■ 50 ............... (other) LDF: Research Without Animals leaflets. Please send me ■ 5 ■ 10 ■ 25 ■ 50 ............... (other) Good Charities Guides.

Millbank Tower, Millbank, LONDON, SW1P 4QP, UK. Tel: +44 (0)20 7630 3340 e-mail: info@ad-international.org www.ad-international.org • www.navs.org.uk • www.ldf.org.uk