Canada’s Labs Need to Go Under a Microscope: Letter by ADAV Director Published in The Hill Times
Image by Dean Moriarty from Pixabay
The letter below by an ADAV Director was published in The Hill Times on December 11, 2024.
Dear Editor,
This week Canada will import yet more monkeys from Asia with the clear intent to cause them harm. While technology has evolved to the point that animal experimentation is no longer the gold standard among researchers elsewhere, Canada remains fixed on outdated approaches that are an actual impediment to progress.
By refusing funding to the development and implementation of cutting-edge approaches, our government and funding agencies are in violation of our commitment to the Three R’s: the Reduction, Refinement and REPLACEMENT of animal use in research.
The US has banned the shipment of monkeys from Cambodia destined for its labs. Their FDA has dropped the mandate that animals be used in the drug development and testing process. The EU has directed its members to abolish animal experimentation within a reasonable timeframe. Most NATO countries use sophisticated simulators in military trauma training rather than the blowtorching of piglets. Not Canada.
To say that Canada is sitting on its hands doing nothing would be a blessing compared to the immense harm it’s research community is causing to the animals, the environment and no less to our own human health.
