Animal Testing Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
Alex Easton
Main Page: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)Department Debates - View all Alex Easton's debates with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
(1 day, 9 hours ago)
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Irene Campbell
I fully agree. I think it is really important that younger people take this cause forward. Earlier today, when I went out to speak to representatives from Camp Beagle, I met a young woman—she is 10—who is really keen that we get it moved forward. I thought that was great.
In the petition debate last year and in others since, I have referenced a 1927 debate on the Dogs Protection Bill, in which the surgeon Sir Lambert Ormsby was quoted as saying:
“Experiments on dogs may now be discontinued. All that can be found out by physiological experiments for application to human beings has long since been discovered, and repetitions are unnecessary and cruel.”—[Official Report, 29 April 1927; Vol. 205, c. 1237.]
It is really sad that nearly 100 years later, dogs continue to be used in this cruel and outdated way.
Alex Easton (North Down) (Ind)
I thank the hon. Member for securing the debate. This is a huge issue in my constituency. Does she agree that, given the grave ethical concern that animals used in testing endure immense pain, distress and confinement, and the fact that the scientific validity of such testing is increasingly in doubt, it is time that we prioritised human alternatives and invested in advanced technology to replace animal testing?
Irene Campbell
I thank the hon. Member for his comments, and I agree with everything that he said. I will say a bit more about that later on.