Posted by Georgina the Giraffe under blog's category : Antivivisection & extremism

Some may have seen the full page advert by the retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S), with pictures of rabbits, proclaiming its commitment not to test cosmetics or household products on animals. This appears to have been run in various national newspapers last week.

The formal policy of M&S is available on its website. The company claims to 'pass the Cruelty-Free test' and is endorsed by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV), and gets a 'Bunny Logo'.

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Posted by Georgina the Giraffe under blog's category : Policy Issues

Scottish MEP David Martin has called for a complete ban on the use of monkeys in research, which has been picked up on the BBC website.

Mr Martin claims that it is immoral to use animal so closely related to us in research, and that the research does not work.

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Posted by Georgina the Giraffe under blog's category : Antivivisection & extremism

We were of course delighted by the verdicts in the court case against animal rights extremists operating in the name of SHAC, as reported extensively in the media.

As a recent article on The Guardian's Comment Is Free explains, there is no reason why the ‘rights' of the animals which the extremists are supposedly defending should override the 'rights‘ of those whose lives depend on medical advances achieved partly through animal research.

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Posted by Georgina the Giraffe under blog's category : Communications & media

As of yesterday afternoon, our new name of Understanding Animal Research has been legally adopted. The new organisation will be fully up and running at the beginning of next year, once we have completed the merger with our partner organisation, the Coalition for Medical Progress. At the same time, we will be adopting a new strategy which reflects the changing nature of the debate. Watch this space - to find out in due course about our new space on the web.

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