Animal suffering

The vast majority of those who campaign against cruel experi-ments on animals do so peacefully, and the new laws to curb troublemakers will affect only a very small minority.

Some people in the research community are trying to exaggerate the misdemeanours of a few so as to gain the sympathy of the public. Television programmes that report on the issue always show the worst elements of the protests, but rarely reveal the extreme suffering caused to many animals in experiments. That is always played down and everything is made to seem very innocuous.

If filming is allowed inside research establishments, all we are shown are the less popular animals, such as rats, and a TV commentator recently de-scribed their accommodation as being "almost luxury".

We do not get to see the dogs and cats and other animals that are kept in barren cells and cages, nor are we given any indication regarding the severe experiments that are inflicted on them. That is kept secret, and that is why so many people want to see more openness about the issue and less secrecy.

JEAN COOPER

Aytoun Grove

Dunfermline