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Animal Defenders International

Political Animals 2006

Posted: 22 September 2006

Animal Welfare Bill: Evidence mounts for animal circus ban

Following an interesting debate in Standing Committee led by Shona McIsaac MP, which heavily featured ADI evidence of circus suffering, Defra Minister Ben Bradshaw announced to the House of Commons on March 8th that certain non-domesticated species would be banned from animal circuses. A similar move was announced in the Scottish Parliament shortly afterwards.

In the House of Lords, an amendment drafted by ADI was tabled by Baroness Miller, the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Environment, calling for the prohibition of animals from tavelling circuses, but allowing for the licensing of certain acts. This received much support.

Such a licensing system would put the onus on circuses to provide evidence to support the use of certain species (including domestic animals) and prove that welfare would not be compromised.

The alternative is to attempt to address every species that might appear (at present these range from ostriches to apes). The scheme now has the backing of many groups, including the RSPCA.

In April a new ADI report, The Science on Suffering, was launched in the House of Lords at a reception hosted by Baroness Byford. The report provides evidence from scientific studies showing the suffering of animals (both exotic and domesticated) during transport and in captivity.

The report also includes observations at two British circuses in March and April 2006, which reveal: animals left in their transporters for 17.5 hours, when the journey had lasted 3.5 hours; some large cats remained in their transporter for 27 hours; horses remained in their transporters for 4-5 hours, for a 2 hour journey. The observations confirmed that due to the circumstances, animal welfare will always be compromised in a travelling environment.

Over 140 MPs have signed EDM 1626 (tabled by Mike Hancock MP) which calls for a complete ban on the use of animals in travelling circuses.

ADI has joined Defra’s Circus Working Group and will be submitting further evidence on the suffering of animals in travelling circuses. We urge all MPs and members of political parties to ask Minister Ben Bradshaw Defra to adopt the suggested policy of a prohibition of animals in travelling circuses with exemptions for certain species and acts, permitted under licence.

Political advertising ban challenged

In July, ADI went to the High Court to challenge the UK’s blanket prohibition on political advertising on television. ADI argued that social advocacy as undertaken by groups like ourselves, Make Poverty History, and Amnesty International should not be be banned from TV, especially since commercial bodies and government increasingly use the medium for outlining their good environmental policies. The case arose when an ADI advert critical of the use of apes in advertising was banned, despite a chimp being used to advertise a soft drink being screened at the same time. A decision is expected in the Autumn.

Keep animals out of REACH

In June 2006 the Council of Ministers published its Common Position on REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals). As expected, this reflects the compromise made in December 2005 by the Member States. This is currently being considered by the European Parliament’s Environment Committee. ADI, NAVS and LDF continue to brief MEPs and others. Also in June, we welcomed the Action Plan from the “European Partnership to Promote Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing”.

To mark International Primate Day (September 1st) ADI supporters tabled motions in the European Parliament, the US House of Representatives, the UK Parliament, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly calling for an end to experiments on non-human primates.

This signals an international drive for governments to adopt a policy that an end non-human primate experiments is a legitimate goal.

The ADI campaign has the backing of Twiggy, Alexei Sayle, Jenny Seagrove, Carol Royle, and Uri Geller and over 150 animal protection groups around the world indicating how momentum is gathering on this especially sensitive area of animal research. A new ADI report on non-human primate experiments, The Primate Nations, highlights not only the similarities between humans and other primates, but the crucial differences that can dangerously misdirect biomedical research, as well as the non-animal techniques that could be used instead. Earlier this year, people were horrified by the terrible side effects suffered by human volunteers, caused by the test drug TGN1412. The drug had been given to monkeys in doses 500 times stronger without such side effects.

The report was accompanied by video and photographs taken this summer inside Europe’s largest lab monkey supply facility, which currently holds several hundred macaque monkeys from Mauritius but has a capacity for around 3,000 – Europe uses a total of approximately 7,500 macaques a year.

To mark International Primate Day (September 1st) ADI supporters tabled motions in the European Parliament, the US House of Representatives, the UK Parliament, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly calling for an end to experiments on non-human primates.

This signals an international drive for governments to adopt a policy that an end non-human primate experiments is a legitimate goal.

The ADI campaign has the backing of Twiggy, Alexei Sayle, Jenny Seagrove, Carol Royle, and Uri Geller and over 150 animal protection groups around the world indicating how momentum is gathering on this especially sensitive area of animal research. A new ADI report on non-human primate experiments, The Primate Nations, highlights not only the similarities between humans and other primates, but the crucial differences that can dangerously misdirect biomedical research, as well as the non-animal techniques that could be used instead. Earlier this year, people were horrified by the terrible side effects suffered by human volunteers, caused by the test drug TGN1412. The drug had been given to monkeys in doses 500 times stronger without such side effects.

The report was accompanied by video and photographs taken this summer inside Europe’s largest lab monkey supply facility, which currently holds several hundred macaque monkeys from Mauritius but has a capacity for around 3,000 – Europe uses a total of approximately 7,500 macaques a year.

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