Today, at the start of the 5th World Congress on Alternatives & Animal use in the Life Sciences in Berlin, animal protection organisations from around the world united to put forward a Resolution to end the use of non-human primates in biomedical research and testing. The Resolution is presented to the media in a press conference that is held by the German Animal Welfare Federation (Deutscher Tierschutzbund), Eurogroup for Animal Welfare and the Humane Society of the United States. Animal protection organisations held a special Satellite meeting prior to the Congress at which the resolution was unanimously adopted.
In the Resolution governments, regulators, industry, scientists and research funders worldwide are urged to accept the need to end primate use as a legitimate and essential goal; to make achieving this goal a high priority; and to work together to facilitate this. An immediate, internationally coordinated effort to define a strategy to achieve the complete replacement of all experiments on nonhuman primates with humane alternatives is demanded.
At the occasion of the World Congress, the Vice-President of the German Animal Welfare Federation (Deutscher Tierschutzbund), Dr Brigitte Rusche, the Director of Eurogroup, Sonja van Tichelen, and the Vice President for Animal Research Issues of the Humane Society of the United States, Dr Martin Stephens, also expressed concern about the continuous use of other animals in research and the slow progress in the development, validation and acceptance of non-animal alternatives. As a result in the EU alone, over 10 million animals continue to be used in experiments every year including mice and rats but also fish, pigs, goats, cats, dogs and primates.
The Berlin congress provides an opportunity for around 600 participants from around the world to review, discuss and promote progress in the 3Rs: the replacement, reduction and refinement of animal tests.
The Deutscher Tierschutzbund (DTSchB, German Animal Welfare Federation) was founded 1881 as umbrella organisation of German animal welfare organisations. We are Germany's largest animal welfare organisation with about 800,000 members.
Eurogroup for Animal Welfare is a federation representing the leading animal welfare organisations in the European Union. Eurogroup works for the introdution and enforcement of European animal welfare legislation and strives to ensure that animal welfare is taken into account in the development of all relevant EU policy areas.
The Humane Society of the United States is the USA's largest animal protection organization representing more than 9 million members and constituents. The HSUS protects all animals through education, investigation, litigation, legislation, advocacy, and field work.
