The Fellowship of Life |
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Sir, - Following Ruth Perry's welcome letter (April 6), with which I
so fully agree, may I tell (or perhaps remind) your readers of the "day
of concern for laboratory animals" that has been called on Tuesday,
April 24, by various animal welfare organisations. The animals who live and die in our research laboratories are of many
species and can be numbered in millions. Their treatment and the manner
in which they die is becoming a matter of growing concern with the
general public, not least because news of what is happening reaches us
so spasmodically. The shooting of animals to test new weapons hit the headlines
recently, but such experiments would not by any means appear to be
extraordinary. Those that perform experiments on animals that involve
acute stress or grievous pain claim that they are necessary for the
protection of our health and vital for our general well-being. They
justify the sad lives and painful deaths of so many animals while in the
care of humans as proper sacrifices to be made on the altar of human
progress and prosperity. I am sure that there is good cause for searching of heart here, and
that this whole matter is one worthy of regular prayer to God for his
guidance and, if need be, for his correction. It is also, I believe, a
matter about which the general public have a right to know the fullest
details, for what is done in these research laboratories is ostensibly
done in their interest. Such matters should be made public, like balance-sheets, because they
show the full cost of what is being produced. The truth is, however,
that, wherever possible, they are kept very secret. They are, I believe,
a proper subject for a commission of enquiry; and it would be
appropriate if the General Synod were to urge the Government to set up
such a commission. I would like to suggest that April 24 be kept in our churches as a
"day of prayer for laboratory animals and the scientists who experiment
on them." Ruth Perry has said, it is sad that churchgoers are not
obvious leaders in this matter of animal welfare; but let us at least be
followers. P.D.S. Blake, Go on to Welfare of Animals (27/4/84) - Mrs. Margaret D. Boxwell
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