Political Animals 2010 by Animal Defenders International

Political Animals 2010 Animal Defenders International • Lord Dowding Fund for Humane Research • National Anti-Vivisection Society

The UK is lagging behind on action on circus animal suffering, while other countries have been swift to take action to protect animals. Despite a 94.5% vote from the public in support of a ban in a Defra consultation this year, the Coalition Government has yet to take action. Ten years after the world was shocked by the beatings of animals in UK circuses, after ADI’s undercover investigation ‘The Ugliest Show on Earth’, the previous government promised Parliament a ban on wild animals in circuses in 2006 under the Animal Welfare Act. Working groups; examination of scientific and empirical evidence; impact assessments; feasibility studies and positive legal advice have followed this promise; yet delay after delay at Defra has kicked the issue into the long grass. In 2009, ADI released undercover footage of the beatings of elephants on tour with the Great British Circus. In ten years, the circus industry had failed to get its act together. The animals at GBC were performing under the provisions of the industry-standard PAWSI codes. The horrific scenes prompted the government to launch a new public consultation, where 94.5% of the public on the online consultation supported a ban. The written submissions to Defra were still being counted, so this was an interim figure. Defra promised that the full results of the survey, including the submission of a report to the minister on the findings of ADI’s

Continued delays on circus wild animal ban leaves the UK behind other countries

Elephant abuse at the Great British Circus; images captured during ADI’s Undercover Investigation led to the overwhelming 94.5% public support for a ban on wild animals in circuses. GBC investigation, would be published in June. We are still waiting. At a recent meeting with Coalition Government minister Lord Henley, ADI and the other animal protection groups were told that the minister would be looking at the evidence again. It is hoped that a recommendation will be made in the autumn.

Other countries move more decisively. Yet other countries appear to be more capable of looking at the evidence and making a decision: Last year, we secured a ban on the use of all animals in circuses Bolivia and decrees were passed in Portugal banning the breeding and acquisition of most wild animals in circuses, effectively phasing out wild animal use in circuses. In Peru and Brazil, bans on the use

Inside: Directive: Transposition / Experiments www.ad-international.org www.ldf.org.uk www.navs.org.uk

Household and Cosmetic Testing Fur

of animals in circuses have been voted through all of the relevant Commissions and await final votes in plenary – so both these countries are on the brink of overtaking the UK. These add to the national bans on wild animals in circuses in a number of countries including Austria, India, and Costa Rica. At local level, hundreds of cities, counties and other authorities worldwide (over 200 local authorities in the UK), have banned animals in travelling circuses from their land, or jurisdiction. Early Day Motion 403 urges the Coalition Government to use the Animal Welfare Act to introduce regulations to ban the use of animals in circuses. The EDM acknowledges the horrific abuse to circus elephants exposed by Animal Defenders International in 2009 in an investigation involving the Great British Circus. At the time of going to press (17.9.10) this has 130 signatures. There is no better time than now, to introduce a ban on the use of wild animals in circuses. The public has voted. There is a legitimate public expectation that Parliament and the Coalition Government will work together to deliver on this issue.

Other countries have been swift to take action to protect animals. Bolivia has recently banned the use of all animals in circuses.

Fur farming in Europe: Do not leave wild animals out in the cold

Political Animals ● Autumn 2010

A fox in a fur farm in Finland – the world’s largest producer of fox fur.

After exposing the horrific conditions that animals in fur farms in Finland have to endure, ADI has launched a campaign against the fur industry across Europe, campaigning in Finland, France, Italy, Israel and the UK with our Bloody Harvest report and video. Our 7-month undercover investigation of 30 fur farms exposed the horrific suffering that farmed foxes and minks endure. Severe, painful and debilitating health issues were clearly being ignored – for example a condition where their gums expanded enormously and prevented closure of the mouth, restricting eating and drinking; widespread untreated infections and severe illnesses were in evidence in noses, mouth and ears; there were open wounds, selfinflicted mutilation and malformation of limbs, caused by their crippling cages which were generally rusted, unclean and broken. The Knesset (Israel Parliament) is currently considering introducing a national ban on fur farming and the trade in fur products. Although there is not a high demand for fur in Israel, a national ban would set a strong and progressive example to the rest of the world. Ten years ago, the Labour Government banned fur farming – the Fur farming prohibition Act 2000 – a popular measure protecting thousands of animals for suffering every year. We are now urging British MEPs to press for measures to end this cruelty across Europe. ADI / NAVS / LDF

Setting a higher standard: EU Directive on Animal Experimentation

After a 7-year process through the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, the revision of the European Directive on animal experiments concluded in September with the final vote in the plenary session of the Parliament. This marks the starting point of the transposition phase, where the new Directive will be introduced into national legislation. The final text of the Directive could and should have been better; the original proposals from the Commission needed improvement, but the final text that came out of the debates was actually poorer than the draft. Nevertheless, this revision is an important step. The current legislation in the UK, the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 enacts the provisions of EU Directive 86/609, passed in 1986. The 25-year-old legislation is no longer fit for purpose; there is no transparency of the authorisation process, no public confidence in the regulations, and millions of animals continue to suffer and die in experiments where non-animal methods are available. The Home Office has reported a staggering 3.6 million procedures on live animals in 2009 (albeit a slight reduction from the 3.7 million procedures reported in 2008). Further regulation, particularly aiming to enforce the replacement of animals in scientific research is necessary.

ADI / NAVS / LDF

It was hoped that the new Directive would provide a framework to make the push towards the adoption of more advanced scientific methods, to replace animals. That remains to be seen. Particularly industry interests – the animal users and suppliers, weakened so much in the provisions on implementation of advanced, non-animal methods during the debates. There are positive aspects to the new Directive, but provisions for restrictions on the use of primates, phasing out of the use of wild-caught primates, regular reviews of animal use with timetables for replacement methods – all of these need significant improvement having been seriously weakened. The new Directive will set a minimum European standard on animal experimentation. It bans the use of chimpanzees. It will restrict experiments on endangered species; extend the scope of protection to certain invertebrate animals; encouragement for Member States to share in vitro methods and organs or tissues. The NAVS, ADI and LDF have met with the minister at the Home Office, and officials, to discuss the transposition of the new Directive into UK law. Naturally, we and other animal protection groups and non-animal funding bodies have already pressed for full Parliamentary participation in the introduction of

the new rules, rather than the use of secondary legislation. We are pressing for a transposition, which will deliver, on the desire of the public to see animal experiments replaced by more modern methods. There needs to be a clear mechanism to enforce use of non-animal methods wherever they are available and to set targets for the development and implementation of replacements. We believe the Coalition Government should make a strong commitment for the UK to ensure effective delivery of the following animal protection measures: ● Primates: No exemptions to the ban on the use of wild caught monkeys; rapid implementation of ban on F1 primates; targets to phase-out primate use. ● Thematic Review: Every two years, to review specific animal tests and whole areas of animal research and set timetables for replacements. ● An effective UK National Centre for the Replacement of Animals in Experiments. ● Prohibition of animal experiments in: Areas such as higher education; household product testing; forensic studies; preservation of species. ● Wider scientific, independent and public scrutiny of proposed animal experiments. ● Stringent regulations to implement non-animal methods. ● Increased Transparency and public access to information – the Freedom of Information Act contains all the personal safeguards necessary to allow public access to information. The current bar on information about animal experiments needs to be removed. ● Compulsory data sharing to prevent duplication. ● Retrospective review of experiments that will enable the prevention of further unnecessary suffering. We applaud that the Coalition Government has already expressed their will to end animal testing on household products. We urge the UK Government to fulfil its commitment to setting the highest standards of animal protection: A prompt transposition of the Directive and the end of the use of animals in testing household products is a positive starting point. It is time to draw a line under cruel and unnecessary animal tests and set the standard for our neighbours in Europe to follow.

Political Animals ● Autumn 2010

Kick animal testing out of the house

Cosmetics testing

Household Product testing

While we wait for the cosmetics testing ban to be fully in force, the latest EU statistics show that 5,571 animals were still used to test “Products / substances used or intended to be used mainly as cosmetics or toiletries”. Recently the European Commission published a draft report on the alternative methods that are available for cosmetic tests. A consultation process requests input from stakeholders regarding reports published by 5 working groups which were given the task to look at the establishment of alternatives to the tests which came under the 2013 marketing ban. It was deeply disappointing to see that four of the five working groups did not envisage the alternatives to these tests being at a stage where they could be banned in 2013. We are pressing for the original deadline to be maintained and that these tests are banned, as originally planned, in 2013. Indeed Europa, the official website of the European Union (EU), advises, “The deadlines for both the testing ban and the marketing ban will apply irrespective of the availability of alternative non-animal tests”

The EU statistics (‘Number of Animals used for Experimental and other Scientific Purposes in the Member States of the European Union’) states that 1,219 animals were used in household product tests. There are already a great many

products on the market, and many ingredients whose effects are well known, from human use. These tests are unnecessary. The latest UK statistics (2009) show that no animals were used for testing household products, which is a welcome change after the 132 animals used the previous year. Prior to this, in 2007 it was reported that one rabbit was used, and in 2006, no animals were used. With this low level of use, it is clear that these tests could and should be banned immediately. Indeed, Lynne Featherstone MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Home Office, recently announced, “The Government are committed to ending the testing of household products on animals. Work is under way to define the range of products affected and to determine how this can best be achieved. I am not yet in a position to confirm when such testing will be finally brought to an end, but hope to be able to do so shortly.” NAVS, ADI and the Lord Dowding Fund continue to meet with Home Office officials, and the minister, to press for an end to such tests.

The UK and Europe still need better mechanisms for the implementation of replacements for animal experiments

Animal Defenders International • Lord Dowding Fund for Humane Research • National Anti-Vivisection Society

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