Laboratory animal suppliers in the United Kingdom

Laboratory animal suppliers in the United Kingdom breed animals such as rodents, rabbits, dogs, cats and primates which they sell to licensed establishments for scientific experimentation. Many have found themselves at the centre of animal rights protests against animal testing.[1]

Campaign methods have included leafleting, demonstrations, verbal and physical intimidation, false accusations of criminal activity such as paedophilia, destruction of property, arson, the use of explosive devices and a grave-robbing.

Many smaller breeders have gone out of business, concentrating the market around larger international companies, such as Charles River Laboratories and Harlan,[2] or to forcing pharmaceutical companies and universities to breed animals in-house. For example, after Shamrock Farm closed in 2000, there were no commercial importers of laboratory primates left in the UK. To address this shortage, Cambridge University planned to build Europe's largest primate facility. However, they withdrew their plans following a concerted campaign by animal rights activists.

The trend has been for companies that experiment on animals to threaten to pull out of the UK.[3] The chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, Jean-Pierre Garnier has said: "I work hard to bring in investment to the United Kingdom and have talked many times to friends who are in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology businesses about moving here. But there is one issue that exists only in the UK and nowhere else has a comparative effect from extreme actions by animal rights activists." [4]

References

Conn, P. Michael and Parker, James V (2008). The Animal Research War, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 978-0-230-60014-0
Buyers Guide: Charles River Laboratories UK, Lab Animal.
Extremist animal rights activists pose main threat to economy, The Times, 10 December 2004.
Glaxo chief: animal rights cowards are terrorising us, The Telegraph, 27 April 2004.

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[1] Conn, P. Michael and Parker, James V (2008). The Animal Research War, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 978-0-230-60014-0

[2] Buyers Guide: Charles River Laboratories UK, Lab Animal.

[3] Extremist animal rights activists pose main threat to economy, The Times, 10 December 2004.

[4] Glaxo chief: animal rights cowards are terrorising us, The Telegraph, 27 April 2004.

Animal testing

Main articles
Animal testing Alternatives to animal testing Animal testing regulations History of animal testing History of model organisms IACUC Laboratory animal sources Pain and suffering in laboratory animals Testing cosmetics on animals Toxicology testing Vivisection
Testing on
Invertebrates Frogs primates Rabbits Rodents
Issues
Medical research Animal rights · Animal welfare Animals (Scientific Procedures) Great ape research ban International primate trade
Cases
Brown Dog affair Cambridge University primates Pit of despair Silver Spring monkeys UCR 1985 laboratory raid Unnecessary Fuss
Companies
Jackson Laboratory Charles River Laboratories Covance · Harlan Huntingdon Life Sciences UK lab animal suppliers Nafovanny · Shamrock Farm
Groups/campaigns
AALAS · AAAS · ALF Americans for Medical Progress Boyd Group · Cruelty Free International Dr. Hadwen Trust Foundation for Biomedical Research FRAME National Anti-Vivisection Society New England Anti-Vivisection Society PETA · Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine Primate Freedom Project Pro-Test SPEAK campaign · SHAC Speaking of Research Understanding Animal Research
Writers/activists
Tipu Aziz Michael Balls Neal D. Barnard Colin Blakemore Simon Festing Gill Langley Ingrid Newkirk Bernard Rollin Jerry Vlasak Syed Ziaur Rahman
Categories
Animal testing Animal rights Animal welfare