Independent:

Animal welfare charities reacted angrily to news in July that the number of animal experiments rose to a record high in Britain last year – a 40 per cent rise over the last decade.

Last month, Cardiff university defended sewing kittens’ eyes shut, as means to find a cure for lazy eyes. In their statement, they said the purpose of the work and its conduct was approved by both the university’s own ethical review process and the Home Office as part of the licensing process.

The 1990s saw a campaign to end cosmetics testing Europe-wide, and next year, Europe will introduce a ban on selling newly animal-tested cosmetics, for the first time excluding products that don’t comply.

When it comes to scientific research, however, scientists have defended the use of experiments and said researchers were reducing the proportion of animals used per study at a time of rising funding for bio-sciences.

But should animals be used for scientific testing? Is it far removed from testing for beauty products? Or is the research required to help save human lives?..

A Whale shark and two Green sea turtles were successfully released off Hainan Island, China. With blue skies above and turquoise waters below, approximately 50 people, including government officials, students, volunteers, local fishermen, and community members, boarded a boat in Lingshui Bay where the animals were set free into their ocean home.

Sea Turtles 911 Founding Director, Frederick Yeh, hailed the day as a celebration of freedom for marine animals, “Sea turtle conservation does not only involve sea turtles. When we protect charismatic species such as Whale sharks, those efforts spill over and protect sea turtles as well. These two animals share the ocean, and we must learn to share the ocean with them.” He added that currently, sea turtles and sharks are endangered entirely due to human-related causes; therefore, “Protecting them is humankind’s responsibility.”

After learning from PETA that Maria Alekhina, a member of the protest band Pussy Riot, collapsed from malnutrition during a recent court appearance, actor Alicia Silverstone fired off a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin asking that he show consideration regarding the jailed rocker’s vegan diet. In the letter, Hollywood sweetheart and vegan cookbook author Silverstone asks Putin to make plant-based foods available to not only the imprisoned Alekhina but also all Russian prisoners.

“Regardless of the trial and its outcome, I’m sure you can agree that everyone has the right to show compassion and refrain from harming animals by being vegan”, wrote Silverstone.

“We hope Putin will give serious consideration to Alicia’s request”, says PETA Associate Director Mimi Bekhechi. “PETA and Alicia stand ready to help Russian authorities plan nutritious, inexpensive vegan meals for all inmates.”

Alicia Silverstone’s letter is available here Blog Peta. For more information on making the switch to a vegan diet, please visit
PETA.org.uk

A new study published in the August 2012 issue of Military Medicine, the journal of US military surgeons, reveals that 22 of 28 NATO nations do not use animal laboratories for military medical training.

Researchers from PETA US, in collaboration with current and former military medical personnel, surveyed officials in all 28 NATO nations during 2010 and 2011. Twenty-two NATO countries – including Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey – confirmed that they do not use animals in military medical training. Officials reported that they use exclusively non-animal methods – such as life-like human simulators in realistic battlefield scenarios – for various reasons, including legal prohibitions against animal use and the superiority of simulation technology.

Six NATO countries – Canada, Denmark, Norway, Poland, the UK and the US – reported using animals in invasive and often deadly procedures.

“The overwhelming majority of NATO allies have moved beyond shooting, stabbing and dismembering animals in crude and cruel training exercises”, says PETA UK Associate Director Mimi Bekhechi. “Superior non-animal methods are used exclusively by civilian surgeons and accident and emergency specialists in the UK. These methods ensure that professionals deliver a high standard of care to the victims of major accidents and violent crime. PETA US’s report documents that modern trauma-training technology is widely available around the world. The continued use of live animals by UK and US armed forces is impossible to justify.”

UK military personnel take part in biennial training exercises in Denmark that
nvolve live pigs (informally known in military circles as “Danish bacon”), even though modern simulators that “breathe” and “bleed” have been shown to better prepare doctors and medics to treat injured humans than animal laboratories. Medical training of this kind that employs live animals is not currently permitted in the UK.

The Military Medicine study is available upon request. To learn more, visit PETA.org.uk