Local green party calls for a changes to the animal testing industry

25 September 2021

The Harrogate and District Green Party are calling for a change to the use of animals for laboratory experiments and testing.

Harrogate has two locations of animal testing Labcorp (formerly Covance) on Otley road, and Smithers Viscient on Skipton Road.

Harrogate and District Green Party statement on Labcorp and animal testing:

The animal testing laboratory has long cast a shadow over Harrogate. With progressive testing methods available and developing all the time, the last thing our local MP should be doing is encouraging an expansion of animal testing.

The European Parliament has voted to stop laboratory experiments on animals and replace them with modern science; the UK could easily do the same and push itself to the forefront of research and development without animal testing.

Instead, our local MP wants to keep us in the past by encouraging an increase in animal testing rather than working to change the industry.

We would ask residents to write to Andrew Jones and urge him to rethink supporting increasing animal testing. Instead, we want him to encourage the business and the UK to switch to modern human-biology-based techniques.

Andrew Jones MP said:

I don’t want medicines tested on animals.  I don’t believe anybody does.  But in law medicines have to be tested on animals before they are tested on humans and then used as medicines which we all take.  This included the COVID-19 vaccine and every other vaccine we take in our lives.

New testing methods can and do reduce the number of animals and the duration of their use and I have made it clear in letters to constituents for over ten years that I support the continued development of technologies that reduced animal testing.  I hope that one day these technologies will mean no medicines are ever tested on animals.

Pretending though that LabCorp is first and foremost an animal testing laboratory is wrong and, I have to say, some are wilfully ignoring this in the statements they make.

A lot of the work they do in the whole process of medicine development does not involve animals. They have also done a huge amount of work on COVID testing and have been an instrumental part of the nation’s battle against the pandemic.  As we seek to avoid and contain new variants and prepare for other viruses emerging with the potential to close down much of our lives, is research into this area something we really want to stop?  Is it wrong for me to support this research?  I don’t think so.

Perhaps those who attack the whole company because of a small part of their operation need to think a bit more widely about the work they do, realise that a small amount of the operation relates to animal testing as part of the development of medicines which benefit us all and acknowledge that in the statements they make.

 

4 Comments

  1. These Greens are children. The UK has a dedicated agency for finding animal alternatives and they cannot be used by law if there’s a working alternative – they would never get a license from the home office.

    Anyone can call for stuff that’s difficult to deliver and it doesn’t make them some sort of legend. Here – I call for nuclear fusion, hoverboards and world peace. Does that mean if any of those are one day achieved it’s down to me? Of course not. It’ll be down to the scientists, diplomats and people working for a solution.

    The EU resolving to phase out animal experiments is nice – the UK already did that in 2010, banned cosmetics testing in 1997, set up the world’s biggest centre for alternatives in 2004 and made it so animals can’t be used if there is an alternative in 1986. The Greens don’t know what they’re doing.

  2. Please stop this testing on animals there’s no need for this.and the cruelty that goes behind closed doors is shocking…there are other ways of testing…please use them instead

  3. After many hundreds of years on animal testing is been proven there is very little benefit to humans as we are dealing with different species that do not scientifically fit on human biology. There is never been a medicine where has cure any human condition after been tested on animals. It’s about time to recognise the facts and truths instead of looking after profits by maintaining an industry that is way too old and outdated, pretending we understand something that is proven many times is un-affective and unnecessary considering the fact there has never been one medicine fits all just on humans alone. It is time to grow new ways of doing science instead of following traditions and laws that no longer serve because at the moment we seem to be stuck in the dark ages and we always seem to ignore the importance of disease prevention that is better approach than the cure. Understanding the root cause instead of treating symptoms alone is the right only way to solve the problems.

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