Otago Student Animal Legal Defense Fund are startled by Otago University’s announcement of plans of a new animal research facility, to be included in a new $50 million, five-storey development on the Dunedin campus.
As students whose fees contribute to the funding of University operations, we are appalled that these plans have been developed in secret, at a time when animal experimentation is becoming increasingly controversial, and increasing numbers of students do not want it to form part of their studies. In conjunction with a number of local and national organisations, we are working to oppose these plans and promote an alternative use of these funds that better invests in both science and animal wellbeing.
We believe the facility is both unnecessary and will further entrench the exploitation of animals for research and teaching purposes at the University of Otago. The University claim it will enhance their ability to uphold the three Rs of animal use in research, testing and teaching (RTT); namely reduction, refinement and replacement. Part six of the Animal Welfare Act 1999, which regulates RTT in New Zealand, requires that these three Rs be promoted. While we accept that centralisation of animal breeding and experimentation may make it easier to practise refinement, and could possibly reduce the number of animals used, it in no way promotes the replacement of animal use, which is the end goal of the three R’s.
Groups including the New Zealand Anti-Vivisection Society, SAFE, the SPCA, the Dunedin Animal Rights Collective, and the Dunedin Vegan and Animal Rights Society have all spoken out in opposition to the proposed facility. In association with these and other interested organisations, we will seek to ensure that any University of Otago investment in animal use in research and testing will be limited to upgrading existing facilities. True commitment to the three R’s would constitute allocating the bulk of the money to establishing an equivalent of the ‘Centres for Alternatives to Animal Testing’, such as at Johns Hopkins and UC Davis Universities in the USA, and Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
Investing in alternatives would enable the University of Otago to move with the times, save on the high costs of breeding, housing and experimenting on animals, and become a leader in putting the globally recognised principle of replacement into effect. This would save tens of thousands of animals from being subjected to cruel processes in the name of science on our own campus. It also has the potential to radically improve the usefulness of data collected by researchers, and improve the relevance of what is taught to University of Otago students. There are several inherent problems with relying on extrapolated animal data in order to make advances in medicine and regulatory testing. Reliance on animals that are physiologically distinct from humans, rather than a more precise model such as cultured cells or computer modelling, inhibits the utility of biomedical research.
The proposed facility does not represent a sound use of our University’s funds. Animal research should not be the focus of investment, because there are limitations to the usefulness of lab animals, and the rights of these animals themselves are only being increasingly recognised. Otago SALDF does not believe that there is an appropriate alternative to every experiment conducted on animals, but this is precisely why a Centre for Alternatives would be so beneficial; because using animals is not appropriate either.
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