Despite STOP’s activities over the past year, UBC has declined to release detailed information about their animal testing program.
Originally published on UBYSSEY - http://ubyssey.ca/
Amongst the light-hearted festivities of UBC Alumni Weekend, a group of animal rights activists, dressed in funeral attire, led a gloomy procession around the SUB.
Dressed all in black, nearly two dozen members and supporters of STOP UBC Animal Research (STOP) gathered to mourn the deaths of animals used in research at UBC.
The event, which aimed to inform community members and the public of animal
research on campus, included graphic photo displays of monkeys, cats, and other
animals used in experiments. The visuals caught the attention of many alumni and
their families outside of the SUB and according to the protesters, many of them
took fliers and listened to STOP’s concerns.
STOP is looking to appeal to university officials, animal control boards as well as the government for reform. Ultimately, they hope to stop animal research throughout Canada.
Brian Vincent, a spokesperson for STOP, believes that UBC should publicly disclose details of animal testing that happens on campus considering much of that research is federally funded.
“Once the information gets out there, it will be deeply disturbing to the public”, said Vincent.
The organization claims that UBC is refusing to provide details about experiments involving animals and hopes that public support will change this.
Vincent thinks the dissemination of such information may help bring greater support to the group’s cause.
Although a large focus of the protest, moral issues are not the only arguments raised by STOP UBC Animal Research. Anne Birthistle, who attended the mock funeral, argued that testing on animals for the advancement of human medicine isn’t effective.
“[It’s] invalid…and thousands of doctors and scientists worldwide agree,” she said. Because humans and animals respond differently to diseases and medicines, she argued that tax payers’ money should go to finding alternatives to animal testing.
Despite STOP’s activities over the past year, UBC has declined to release detailed information about their animal testing program.
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