Campaign Updates

More than 1,000 people take action against cruel monkey experiments

Last Monday (April 7), we exposed two cruel experiments on monkeys, which had been performed in Canada but co-funded by the Cure Parkinson’s Trust – a UK-based charity. The research involved giving marmoset monkeys a toxic chemical to damage their brains, high doses of a Parkinson’s drug to induce debilitating side effects, and either the street drug ecstasy, or a derivative. Shockingly, some of the monkeys had already been used in similar studies. You can read more about these disturbing experiments here. The response –... Continued

Protests against charity-supported vivisection make powerful impact

Our two days of action against charity-supported vivisection in Cambridge have had a powerful impact, with excellent public engagement and strong local media coverage. The peaceful protests were supported by local campaign group Animal Rights Cambridge. They followed the discovery of a particularly shocking experiment performed on pregnant sheep at Cambridge University, which was supported by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and featured on this website. The disturbing ‘procedure’ involved 12 ewes and their unborn lambs being... Continued

Home Office document reveals disturbing scale of research programme on pregnant animals

Animal Aid has obtained an official document revealing that the pregnant sheep experiment recently featured on this website – and which was financially supported by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) – was part of a vast research programme that was scheduled to use up to 4,805 pregnant animals, including 3,750 rats and mice, 850 sheep, 125 pigs and 80 ponies. The disturbing scale of the suffering is described in a document submitted to the Home Office (HO) by one of the researchers. It was disclosed to Animal Aid by the HO in... Continued

Why animal experiments won’t cure heart disease

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) funds animal research into heart disease. Yet the results from animal experiments cannot be reliably applied to humans, and this means they are unlikely to result in medical progress. Below are just some of the reasons for this: 1. There are fundamental differences between humans and animals. Dogs, for example, cannot be made to develop heart disease by being fed an artificially fatty diet. Rodents have a resting heart rate five times higher than humans, with different electrical impulses and... Continued

Animal Aid response to the British Heart Foundation

We have been overwhelmed by the response to the first experiment we have exposed via the microsite. Within a few hours, more than 600 people emailed the British Heart Foundation (BHF), objecting to its financial support for the research. The BHF has responded to some of the people who have taken action by claiming that it did not fund the experiment in question. However, for the reasons below, we believe it is accurate to say the organisation clearly provided financial support (the term we use on the site and in our press... Continued

Statements of support: Jan Creamer

Jan Creamer, Chief Executive of the National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) which produces the Good Charities Guide : 'We all want to help find cures for diseases that affect us and our loved ones, but those who generously support medical research charities often have no idea that their money can be used to fund cruel and pointless animal experiments that make little contribution to medical progress. By becoming better informed, people can take control of how their donations are spent and support only humane research... Continued

Statements of support: Dr Gilly Stoddart

Dr Gilly Stoddart, Science Advisor to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): ‘As science advisor to PETA, I am fully aware of the ways in which animals are used in medical experiments and the failure of animal-derived data to provide human medicine with any relevant insights in the majority of cases. Animal Aid’s new initiative will compel the UK’s medical research charities to take a long, hard look at their research policies and reconsider whether funding cruel and irrelevant animal experiments is an... Continued

Statements of support: John Pippin MD, FACC

Dr John Pippin, heart specialist and Director of Academic Affairs for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM): ‘Animal Aid has historically provided a great service by exposing not only the immense cruelty of charity-funded animal experimentation, but also by deconstructing the self-serving interests, bad science, and lack of translation to human benefit. This new Victims of Charity website will be an ongoing resource for those who want to know what is being done with their donations, specifically how animals... Continued

Statements of support: Benjamin Zephaniah

‘The Victims of Charity initiative addresses one of today’s most important issues. Animals and people all have a right to freedom, and no creature should spend their life in a cage, suffering in a laboratory. This new website will give people the information and resources they need to express their opinions and let these charities know that it’s time to leave vivisection in the past and embrace a kinder... Continued

Statements of support: Peter Tatchell

‘As a lifelong human rights campaigner, I care about people - and other animals too. We humans are part of the animal kingdom. Other animals are like us, in that they also suffer when harmed. Just because we are more intelligent than other animal species does not give us the right to use animals as laboratory tools. Indeed, because of our more highly developed mental and moral capacities, we have a special obligation to not inflict suffering on other weaker, more vulnerable animals. In any case, vivisection is bad science based on... Continued