“I’m deeply shocked to learn that thousands of beautiful Beagles are intensively bred, right here in the peace of the British countryside, for painful and terrifying toxicity experiments that are also now proven to entirely fail the search for human treatments and cures.”

Comedian Ricky Gervais and vegan actor and advocate Peter Egan have launched a campaign to ban factory farms breeding dogs for “painful toxicity” experiments that take place in labs across the UK.

The pair have teamed up with Dr Lisa Cameron MP, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Dog Welfare (APDAWG), to launch a new Parliamentary Early Day Motion 175, which calls on the government to mandate a rigorous public scientific hearing on claims that animal experiments can predict the responses of humans, the Mirror reported.

The campaign comes after new footage from MBR Acres in Cambridgeshire – Britain’s biggest beagle farm – revealed distressed, panic-driven dogs being piled into overcrowded and small trolleys to be transported to labs across the country.

According to the animal rights campaigners, experiments are normally carried out on 16 -week-old dogs including being force-fed chemicals for up to 90 days with no pain relievers. Most of them are later killed once the experiments are over.

Animal testing futile for human cures

Cameron in her EDM notes that scientists in the wider scientific community including experts in the pharmaceutical industry, the Editor in Chief of the British Medical Journal, and the US-based National Cancer Institute openly acknowledge the failure of animal testing in the search for human treatments and cures. Moreover, the Food and Drug Administration states that 9 out of 10 new medicines fail to pass human trials because animals cannot predict responses in humans.

 “Dogs are man’s best friend, yet thousands of Beagles are bred every year in the UK, for painful toxicity experiments that are today widely reported to be failing the search for human treatments and cures,” Dr Cameron told the Mirror.

“Please join me in asking the Government to mandate this science hearing: ask your MP to sign EDM 175.”

‘Ban the factory farming of dogs’

Raising awareness for the ban, Gervais said: “I’m deeply shocked to learn that thousands of beautiful Beagles are intensively bred, right here in the peace of the British countryside, for painful and terrifying toxicity experiments that are also now proven to entirely fail the search for human treatments and cures.

“Please help us raise awareness of this appalling state of affairs. Help me ban the factory farming of dogs with a thorough public scientific hearing, to judge the outdated and false claims about human medicine which continue to fund this terrible cruelty to man’s best friend.”

Peter Egan added: “With the recent passing of Finns Law Part Two, cruelty to dogs and other animals comes with an up to five years prison sentence. I am appalled, therefore, to learn that thousands of dogs are incarcerated in intensive breeding units, right here in the UK, to prepare them for frightening and painful experiments that can involve being force-fed chemicals for up to 90 days, with no pain relief or anaesthetic.

“Experts in the scientific community report widely on the failure of these procedures in the search for human treatments and cures, including the Editor in Chief of the British Medical Journal and the FDA, which states that nine out of ten new medicines fail to pass clinical trials because animals cannot predict human responses”

UK law on animal experiments

Currently, UK law requires all new medicines to be tested on two animals before being rolled out in the market — one rodent and one non-rodent, commonly dogs.

According to Mirror’s report, Beagles are routinely used in drugs trials for serious illnesses in humans including high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, diabetes and cancer.

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Mohsina Dodhiya

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