COVID-19: PETA Warns WHO About Dangers of Animal Tests
PETA has joined forces with Cruelty Free Europe, Eurogroup for Animals, and Cruelty Free International to speak out against tests on animals in coronavirus research. In a joint statement, we asked the World Health Organization (WHO) to consider the harm caused to the animals used and to focus on the use of humane, human-relevant tests instead.
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The world desperately needs effective vaccines and treatments for COVID-19, so it’s more important than ever that scientists use methods that will give them the best chance of success. Considering that 95% of drugs that test safe and effective in animals go on to fail in human studies – and that decades of experiments on animals have neglected to produce a single effective treatment for human diseases including sepsis and strokes – tests on animals are clearly not the way forward. Instead, researchers should be embracing modern, human-relevant methods like organs-on-chips, 3-dimensional tissue models, and responsibly conducted trials with human volunteers.
We all want to see safe and effective vaccines and treatments produced as quickly as possible. This is why researchers can’t afford to waste time and money conducting useless tests on animals.
We’re also concerned about the suffering that is being and will be inflicted on thousands of animals, including monkeys, dogs, cats, ferrets, and mice. Genetically modified mice infected with the coronavirus, for example, frequently experience laboured breathing, lethargy, and death.
Today, as more and more coronavirus researchers are avoiding cruel and archaic tests on animals, we urge the WHO and other coordinating bodies to ensure that the focus is on cutting-edge, human-relevant methods in the urgent search for safe and effective treatments and vaccines.
Make Archaic Animal Tests History
The tide is turning, and more and more forward-thinking scientists are adopting research methods that benefit humans without harming animals. Help keep up this momentum by urging the UK government to commit to ending the use of animals in experiments:
