EU Bans Use of Great Apes in Animal Research

Some may disagree, but I think this is a huge victory. I wish we could do the same here in the US, but I highly doubt it...especially considering that Congress may go Republican in November.

From the AFP...

Europe banned the use of great apes in animal testing Wednesday as part of drastically tightened rules to scale back the number of animals used in scientific research.

After two years of heated debate on how to protect animal welfare without scuppering scientific research, the new limits, updating regulations from 1986, were adopted by the European Parliament despite objections from Green MEPs.

Under the new legislations, experiments on great apes such as chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans are to be banned and "strict" restrictions set on the use of primates in general.

Members of the 27-nation bloc, who are given two years to comply with the rules, also need "to ensure that whenever an alternative method is available, this is used instead of animal testing."

And they must work at "reducing levels of pain inflicted on animals."

Elizabeth Kucinich and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

Cool! She's the new Director of Public Affairs and she's already started lobbying for the Great Ape Protection Act, which would phase out invasive medical research on chimpanzees. (For you international readers, she's Dennis Kucinich's wife. He's a US Congressman who has run for President twice.)

Ban on Ape Testing Proposed in EU

Their is a proposal to ban testing on apes in the EU. Is this a solution to a problem that doesn't exist?

Europe's environment chief plans to ban laboratory tests on mankind's closest relatives -- chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos and orangutans -- in a clampdown on animal testing by the drugs industry and other laboratories.

But some animal welfare groups and researchers accused the European Union of masking weak regulation with empty gestures, as no great apes have been used in EU research for six years.

"Today's draft legislation does include a great ape test ban, but as no apes are used in EU research at the moment, this is considered by many animal advocates as something of a token gesture," said the Dr Hadwen Trust for Humane Research, a British-based charity which opposes using animals in experiments.

Great Apes to Get Basic Rights in Spain

Spain's parliament is about to pass a law granting great apes the right to life and freedom. I wonder if the rest of Europe will follow suit. As a member of the EU, I wonder what effect this will have on Europe as a whole.

All of this is part of the Great Ape Project. Here it what it is:

1. The Right to Life
The lives of members of the community of equals are to be protected. Members of the community of equals may not be killed except in very strictly defined circumstances, for example, self-defense.

2. The Protection of Individual Liberty
Members of the community of equals are not to be arbitrarily deprived of their liberty; if they should be imprisoned without due legal process, they have the right to immediate release. The detention of those who havenot been convicted of any crime, or of those who are not criminally liable, should be allowed only where it can be shown to be for their own good, or necessary to protect the public from a member of the community who wouldclearly be a danger to others if at liberty. In such cases, members of the community of equals must have the right to appeal, either directly or, if they lack the relevant capacity, through an advocate, to a judicial tribunal.

3. The Prohibition of Torture
The deliberate infliction of severe pain on a member of the community of equals, either wantonly or for an alleged benefit to others, is regarded as torture, and is wrong.

Plan to Cull Ape Population in Gibralter Meets with Resistance

A plan to kill 25 Barbary apes out of a population of 200 has been condemned by the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society (GONHS). From AFP:

"Our policy is that culling can be a population management solution but only in extreme cases when there is no other more suitable option," GONHS general secretary Dr. John Cortes said on Tuesday.

"We would only ever recommend a cull after very careful assessment of the situation from a veterinary and a genetic point of view."

However, Environment Minister Ernest Britto said a licence has been issued for the cull and two of the apes have already been given lethal injections.

Here is some info about Barbary apes from the BC SPCA.