The BUAV has today strongly condemned an agreement reached by the 27 EU member states on what the new EU animal experiments law should look like.

This is a huge missed opportunity and, contrary to all the rhetoric from politicians, if the document became the new law it would:

• severely weaken the existing rules about researchers having to use alternatives to animals wherever possible;
• mean that individual member states will not be able to adopt stricter animal protection rules in future, as public opinion and scientific knowledge develops;
• large numbers of animal experiments will not have to undergo proper scrutiny by governments.

The process will now go back to the European Parliament and we are urging MEPs to take action to ensure that the future legislation introduces meaningful protection for animals.

BUAV Chief Executive, Michelle Thew states:

‘The truth is that under this document animals will continue to be experimented on, in large numbers, for reasons which have nothing to do with finding cures for diseases – such as the safety testing of non-essential products and curiosity-driven research. We are extremely disappointed that an opportunity to improve animal welfare and place greater restrictions on animal experimentation has so far been lost. We urge MEPs to take a much stronger line’.

3rd June 2010