No excuse for more vivisection

Published on 22/07/2012 00:00

IT IS not just disappointing, but scandalous that the number of animal experiments have gone up by 12 per cent in Scottish universities in the past year (News, 15 July). Indeed, it is a scandal that any animals are used at all.

Such experiments are carried out in the name of medical science “furthering the understanding of disease, including cancer and heart disease”, yet the causes of such diseases are already well known to those who have done any serious research on the subject. Do those scientists who insist on animal experimentation really put it down to coincidence that vegetarians tend to be healthier than omnivores, and vegans healthier still, and that cancer and heart disease are virtually unknown in those who eat an animal-free diet and don’t abuse their body with other harmful substances, such as tobacco?

I challenge the Edinburgh University spokeswoman, or any pseudo-scientist at the university – who claims “research using animals has made a vital contribution towards the understanding, prevention, treatment and cure of a wide range of major health problems including cancer, heart disease, diabetes and mental illness” – to take part in public debate with a health professional from Physicians for Responsible Medicine. This consists of doctors, scientists and other health professionals who are opposed to animal experimentation, not just on ethical but also on medical/scientific grounds, as they recognise that testing on animals often produces dangerously misleading results and cannot be relied on.

Sandra Busell, Edinburgh