Court: UK downplays animal pain in labs

hours, 2 minutes ago
LONDON - Britain's government has overlooked the extent of the pain inflicted on animals in some scientific labs, the High Court ruled Friday.
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Judge John Mitting ruled that the Home Office, which sets guidelines for animal experiments, acted unlawfully by describing highly invasive procedures as causing only "moderate" rather than "severe" suffering.
Activists said the judgment's impact will be that getting approval for such experiments will be more difficult than it has been.
The Home Office said it was examining the judgment, which it has the option to appeal.
"This case demonstrates it has ridden roughshod over the public's trust in this matter," said Michelle Thew, chief executive of the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection.
The group, which wants to abolish all animal experiments, took the government to court claiming it was failing in its legal duty to ensure animal suffering is kept to a minimum in laboratories.
The government has said Britain's animal testing laws are the toughest in the world. Experiments can only be carried out if the expected benefits outweigh the hurt caused and no alternative technique exists. Cosmetics testing on animals is banned.
More than 3 million animal experiments were carried out in Britain in 2006, according to government statistics — the vast majority on mice. Less than 1 percent involved primates.
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On the Net:
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_re_eu/storytext/britain_animal_experiments/23902151/SIG=11ug7i8ti/*http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/animal-testing
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_re_eu/storytext/britain_animal_experiments/23902151/SIG=10lpc9p3e/*http://www.buav.org