Following the recent commentary in The Guardian (8th April 2021) many of you will have read the article and seen the undercover video footage taken at Vivotecnia, which was collated by Cruelty Free International. The video footage shows examples of inhumane treatment of laboratory animals, a lack of compassion and unprofessional conduct of its employees.
LASA promotes the importance of high standards of animal welfare in research in order to minimise the impact on the health and wellbeing of all experimental animals. Good animal welfare will maximise the quality of scientific data and reduce the numbers of animals required.
LASA condemns practices that fall below the standards set out in the European Directive 2010/63/EU, which have been transposed into the local legislation of all EU Member states. In the UK, the local legislation is the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 Amended 2012, which mandates that laboratory animals should always be treated with due care and respect.
LASA expects the Spanish regulatory authority to investigate the alleged incidents thoroughly to publish their findings as soon as possible.
Dr Jill Reckless,
President
