Almost 100 ‘Dogs’ and ‘Cats’ Line Up to Plead for Protection in Laboratories

Looks pretty good, doesn’t it? Almost 100 PETA supporters took part in an eye-catching photo opportunity at Marble Arch in London today to demand that the government not adopt lower standards of protection for animals in laboratories when it incorporates the EU’s new directive regulating animal experiments later this year. If the government adopts the directive without changes, all animals will be affected. But dogs and cats in particular would become far more likely to be used in experiments because they would lose the special protections that Britain has given them for more than 25 years. “Britons don’t want more cats and dogs experimented on or more suffering for the millions of other animals used in laboratories. They want fewer animals used and less pain”, said PETA policy adviser Alistair Currie. “We are calling on the public to send a clear message to the government that the citizens will not accept the laws that protect British animals to fall to the level of the EU’s lowest common denominator.” The Home Office is holding a public consultation on options for incorporating the directive, and you can submit comments through PETA’s website. (The consultation closes on 5 September.) Although the government can retain higher welfare standards where they already exist, it is considering adopting the directive wholesale, even if it means more animal suffering than allowed under current UK law. It’s vital that government officials know that the British people won’t accept that. A big thanks to all the fantastic PETA supporters who sent that message loud and clear at Marble Arch today.