Activists and Scholars: Assessing Campaigns to End Animal Experimentation

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Activists and Scholars Assessing Campaigns to
End Animal Experimentation
 
 
 
 

• Andrew Knight BSc., BVMS, CertAW, MRCVS
• Director, Animal Consultants International
• www.AnimalConsultants.org

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Overview

• Militant and direct activism
• Requirements for ending animal experimentation
• Scientific activism
• Student activism
• Public activism
• Conclusion

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Militant direct activism

• Tactics
• Protests, sometimes persistent and protracted
• Home demonstrations and staff harassment
• Laboratory raids and animal rescues
• Property destruction vandalism, arson, (sinking
  whaling ships !)
• Threatening behaviour, e.g., mailed razor blades,
  pipe bombs (!?!)
• Benefits
• Animals rescued
• Video/camera footage gained
• Laboratories and breeding facilities closed due
  to staff harassment and economic damage

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Militant direct activism

• Costs
• Loss of media support
• Loss of public goodwill
• Terrorist characterisation by the biomedical
  research industry
• Hardening of governmental positions in support of
  animal experimentation
• Repression of activists

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Militant direct activism

• Clifton M. Arsons boost bill that would inhibit
  access to info about animal research. Animal
  People 2008 18(6) 22
• Firebombs detonated on a porch and in a home
  belonging to University of California at Santa
  Cruz researchers in the early morning of August
  2, 2008 are believed to have given a big
  late-in-session boost to AB 2296, a bill which
  would allow universities to withhold the names of
  animal researchers from public documents.
• AB 2296 is in some respects a state version of
  the federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act

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Militant direct activism

• Dr Elliot Katz, Founder, In Defense of Animals
• AB 2296 would restrict access to information
  about animal research at both public institutions
  and private companies receiving public funding.
• Eric Mills, Founder, Action for Animals
• Such actions put people in danger, and do
  nothing to help animals, or further our cause
  indeed, they are counter-productive,
• The Santa Cruz firebombings, like several
  others in the past several years, imminently
  preceded the sentencing of a prominent direct
  action advocate. Tre Arrow, 34,, on August 12,
  2008 drew 78 months in federal prison and a
  restitution order for a series of arsons
  committed in the name of the Earth Liberation
  Front

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Animal experimentation will continue, as long as

• A majority of (i) the government (ii) scientists
  and (iii) the public believe it is necessary to
  protect and advance human health, (and (iv), a
  sizeable industry is economically reliant on it).
• Mechanisms
• Direct government intervention
• Translocation to countries where animal
  protection is minimal

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Requirements for ending animal experimentation

• Awareness by governments, ethics committee
  members, scientists and the public of the poor
  human clinical and toxicological predictivity and
  utility of animal experiments
• Awareness of the poor costs/benefit ratio of
  animal experimentation vs. other mechanisms for
  protecting and advancing human health
• Awareness of the ethical case against animal
  experimentation (?)
• Resultant public support for restrictions/bans on
  animal experimentation
• Resultant legislative restrictions/bans on animal
  experimentation
• Finally outreach to other countries

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Scientific activism

• Publication in peer-reviewed biomedical journals
  of systematic reviews demonstrating the poor
  human clinical or toxicological utility of animal
  experiments around 93 demonstrate poor human
  utility
• Outreaching of these results
• Scientific and popular media
• Scientific conferences
• Legislators
• Ethics committees
• Universities
• Public presentations
• Maximising impact requires the active
  participation of the animal protection movement!

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Student activism campaigns for humane teaching
methods

• Importance
• directly saves animal lives
• allows compassionate students to graduate
• increases pool of scientists knowledgeable about
  and sympathetic towards alternatives
• winnable!
• Student successes internationally
• Secrets of student success high motivation and
  campaigns based on student, rather than animal,
  rights

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Inspiring student campaigns

• Provide students with information about humane
  alternatives
• Inspire them to conscientiously object
• Guide them in the steps needed to maximize their
  chances of success
• Provide them with the resources they need to win!
• Outreach biomedical student noticeboards,
  student magazines, animal protection newsletters,
  websites, presentations, essay competitions.

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Key resources
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Public activism

• Goals educating legislators, scientists, the
  media, and the public about the scientific and
  ethical case against animal experimentation
• Forwarding existing scientific studies or
  abstracts/shorter articles
• Publishing own letters/articles
• Speaking or arranging speaking opportunities/debat
  es for experts
• Seeking media attention through tactics designed
  to generate both awareness and support
• Laboratory raids/undercover investigations to
  rescue animals and gain footage of laboratory
  conditions
• Graphic stunts occupations, sit-ins, die-ins,
  pie-throwing, etc!

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Conclusion

• There is a great deal of intelligent, strategic
  activism which is not undertaken by the animal
  protection movement, although it is well within
  our ability. Such activism would significantly
  speed up the abolition of animal experimentation,
  which will otherwise take a very long time.

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Evidence-based websites
www.AnimalExperiments.info Peer-reviewed studies
of human predictivity/utility, governmental
reports, reviews of alternative
strategies. www.HumaneLearning.info Over over
400 published studies of harmful animal use and
humane alternatives, in various educational
disciplines. www.eurca.org The European
Resource Centre for Alternatives in Higher
Education Database over 70 high quality
educational alternatives, most with commissioned
reviews by professional educators.
 
 
 
 

• Andrew Knight BSc., BVMS, CertAW, MRCVS
• Director, Animal Consultants International
• www.AnimalConsultants.org