New Laws for Irish Lab Animals: Email TD's Now!
TRANSPOSITION OF DIRECTIVE 2010/63/EU INTO IRISH LAW

New regulations governing animal experimentation are due before the Dáil.

The regulations relate to a complex new EU directive allowing countries wide discretion in enforcement. Although these will be the most significant reforms since 1876, the Irish Anti-Vivisection Society is concerned that these historic regulations have not been subject to adequate consultation and might not be debated before being enshrined in law...

source: IAVS

 

TCD spent €368,000 on animals for medical tests
LIVE animals are increasingly being experimented on by Irish scientists, despite controversy over the practice. Figures obtained by the Irish Independent show researchers in Trinity College spent more than €368,000 on live animals in only 12 months to use in tests aimed at treating disease in humans...

source: Independent.ie


BUAV CRITICISES FAILURE TO REDUCE ANIMAL EXPERIMENTS IN NORTHERN IRELAND
The BUAV is calling for Northern Ireland to exercise its powers to take swift action to reduce animal experiments as figures released today show almost no movement in the number of animal experiments since 2010...

source: BUAV


ONE STEP CLOSER TO A FULL EU COSMETICS ANIMAL TESTING MARKETING BAN
The BUAV, together with our colleagues in the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE), has welcomed further confirmation from Mr Tonio Borg, Commissioner Designate for the Health and Consumer Affairs portfolio, regarding his position on maintaining the 2013 marketing ban deadline for animal tested cosmetics...

source: BUAV


ECEAE welcomes position of Commissioner Designate on cosmetics marketing ban
The European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE) has welcomed the position of Mr Tonio Borg, Commissioner Designate for the Health and Consumer Affairs portfolio, on the need for the Cosmetics Directive marketing ban to come into force in March 2013...

source: ECEAE


IAVS meets with Government officials over new animal experimentation law

The IAVS has held a constructive meeting with Department of Health officials to discuss their implementation of historic new European Union animal experimentation laws. The Directive is very complex and each Government needs to be careful when they translate it into national laws in order to ensure they properly enforce all the rules on independent scrutiny, limits on pain and suffering, and the promotion of non-animal research methods. The IAVS therefore welcomes the Department’s willingness to engage with us on these critical issues.

We raised strong objections to the Minister’s intention to introduce a loophole that could weaken the current ban on experiments involving:

‘severe pain, suffering or distress that is likely to be long-lasting and cannot be ameliorated’

The Directive does not require countries to introduce this optional loophole, and many other countries are choosing not to. The IAVS believes that, apart from being fundamentally immoral, there is no scientific need to subject animals to this extreme level of suffering. We are concerned that this loophole could undermine the drive to minimise cruelty in animal tests, and is inconsistent with the Government's stated commitment to the 3Rs. [See coverage for our campaigning against severe and prolonged cruelty to animals in The Irish Examiner.] We therefore asked if the Minister would reconsider his position.

We reiterated our concerns about the Department’s consultation process for the new law and the use of secondary legislation rather than primary legislation, which restricts the options for debate and amendment in the Oireachtas, and the Department has now assured us that the IAVS would be consulted as the drafting of the new law nears completion in the coming weeks.

The Department also confirmed that they would be providing meaningful resources to allow the Irish Medicines Board to enforce the new rules. The IAVS agrees that this represents a major improvement on the current situation, where labs can go years without inspection. However, the laws have to be drafted correctly so that these resources can be put to good effect, and this is why it is essential for the IAVS to be able to comment on draft proposals before they are finalised.

The IAVS looks forward to being able to offer further constructive advice on the implementation of critical clauses in the Directive. We hope the Minister will take on board our suggestions on these important points in the coming weeks and that the Dáil has the opportunity to subject the proposals to democratic scrutiny.

Urgent Action

Scrutiny by the Dáil is critical to ensure the new law has maximum effect in terms of reducing and eliminating animal suffering while modernising medical research. Please write to your TDs as a matter of urgency – click here for a sample letter, but do please personalise it to give it more impact. You can use this article to help with the text of your letter.

You can find out who your TDs are by clicking here and then clicking on the 'Display by constituency' tab. Most TDs will have an email address listed on their 'Website'.
Otherwise, their emails tend to all have the formula firstname.surname@oireachtas.ie .
If in doubt, the main phone number for the Oireachtas is 01 618 3000.

source: IAVS


IAVS responds to Minister Reilly statement to Dáil on animal testing Directive

The IAVS has today (26 October 2012) responded to a significant statement made to the Dáil by Health Minister Dr James Reilly, which attempts to defend the Department’s handling of the new European Directive on animal experimentation.

In the Note (click here to see note), the IAVS explain:

1. The Directive will only achieve its aim of reducing animal pain and suffering and promoting non-animal research methods if it is carefully translated into Irish law and supported by pro-active policies.

2. Given the complexity of the Directive and the significant difference each country can make to its effectiveness, the consultation process has been far too minimal/sporadic.

3. Since the Directive was passed in September 2010, there has been sufficient time to allow meaningful scrutiny of the proposed new regulations in the Oireachtas, instead of the ‘rubber-stamping’ approach proposed by the Department of Health.

4. The Minister appears to be proposing, unnecessarily, to implement loopholes that would endanger Ireland’s proud record of not allowing painful experiments on primates, and would facilitate experiments involving severe and long-lasting pain that cannot be ameliorated.

Pressure from the IAVS has secured an imminent meeting with Health Department officials to discuss our concerns. We are requesting the chance to comment and suggest amendments to the draft regulations, and for a debate in the Dáil.

source: IAVS

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October 2012

IAVS urges debate on new animal testing law
The Irish Anti-Vivisection Society has urged the Department of Health not to impose the new law intended to regulate animal experimentation without proper consultation on the draft text and a debate in the Dail.

The new law, due to be passed in November, implements a new EU Directive1 and represents the biggest change in this field since the 1876 Cruelty to Animals Act. The IAVS has written to the Department of Health and TDs to argue that the disturbing increases in animal experimentation in Ireland (a 636% increase over just five years to 279,609 in 2010), combined with growing public interest, means that these laws must receive proper democratic scrutiny.

Animal experimentation laws present unique moral problems, as they allow the infliction of pain and suffering on individuals who cannot give their consent. A significant proportion of Irish animal experiments are officially classed as causing ‘severe and prolonged pain’ and tens of thousands more are used in lethal poisoning experiments to test Botulinum Toxin products. No other area of Government policy has such a direct and potentially damaging effect on the welfare of individuals in Ireland.

The IAVS also points out that experiments on animals are only supposed to be permitted on the basis of predicted public benefits. It is therefore essential that there is full public debate regarding when animal tests are allowed and how Ireland can reduce and eliminate animal experiments, which is the ultimate aim of the Directive.

This is a complex Directive which gives each national government in the EU a great deal of room for interpretation in key areas, such as how they will conduct the harm-benefit test of proposed research projects, and the composition of ethical review bodies. The IAVS is particularly concerned that the Irish Government currently intends to pass an optional loophole evading the ban on subjecting animals to ‘severe pain, suffering or distress that is long-lasting and cannot be ameliorated’.

Urgent Action

Please write to your TDs as a matter of urgency – the new law could be introduced any day now. Please explain to them why they need to work for a proper debate in the Dail on these critical rules that will set the framework for animal experimentation for a generation, affecting millions of animals.
Click here for a sample letter, but do please personalise it to give it more impact. You can use this article to help with the text of your letter.

You can find out who your TDs are by clicking here and then clicking on the 'Display by constituency' tab. Most TDs will have an email address listed on their 'Website'.
Otherwise, their emails tend to all have the formula firstname.surname@oireachtas.ie .
If in doubt, the main phone number for the Oireachtas is 01 618 3000.

source: IAVS

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