EARA has published a new article analysing some of the claims used by animal activists to discredit animal research.
As political pressure to phase-out animal research grows, EARA policy and projects officer, Dr Becky Jones, has looked at the claims of Cruelty Free International, PETA, Humane Society International and The Humane Society of Australia, to see how statistics are often manipulated, or taken out of context.
Activists often use the claim that the failure of more than 90% of human clinical drug trials is demonstration that preclinical research in animals is ineffective. However, EARA argues that drugs fail for many different reasons at every stage of the drug development process, but often thanks to preclinical testing with animals, many potentially harmful, or ineffective drug candidates are rejected.
EARA highlights how ‘there are countless examples where animal research has played a part in ensuring that once life-threatening diseases can be managed or eradicated altogether’.