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source: Ethical Consumer Magazine 54 Aug/Sept 98
Animal Testing
Laboratories
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One of the biggest contract
testing laboratories, Huntingdon Life Sciences has received heavy coverage
both in the national press and in EC. However, it is not alone in
conducting animal testing. This article looks at four of the other largest
contract testing laboratories in the UK.
During 1997, in the UK
approximately 2.64 million experiments were carried out on
animals.17
These experiments involved mice, rats and other rodents, birds, fish,
rabbits, dogs, cats and non-human primates. Although the testing of
finished cosmetic products has since been banned, this only represented
10% of cosmetic tests carried out and 0.1% of the total animals used for
scientific procedures. The majority of tests were carried out by
commercial companies, while the rest were by universities, charities,
government departments and other public bodies. |
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According to Pat Rattigan
from British Anti Vivisection Association (BAVA) there are over 350
licensed laboratories across the UK.4 Unfortunately, it is not possible to
find out exactly where tests are carried out. Although the Home Office
does hold these details, a spokesperson told us that this information is
confidential, partly because pharmaceutical companies and contract houses
want their ideas protected, and partly because of security fears that this
information could get into the ‘wrong hands’ and be ‘misused’.1 A number
of animal rights organisations confirmed the secrecy of the testing
industry and Naturewatch argue that "it is this very secrecy which
prevents progress in reducing and stopping the use of animals for
experimental purposes".
Despite this secrecy, it has been possible to discover who some of the
largest contract testing laboratories in the UK are. According to BUAV,
BAVA and the Animal Rights Coalition, five of the largest contract
laboratories are Huntingdon Life Sciences, Covance Laboratories, Quintiles
Toxicology Pathology Services, BIBRA and Inveresk Research
International.
These laboratories conduct testing on behalf of
pharmaceutical, agrochemical and household product companies and are quite
likely to be conducting tests for overseas companies as well. According to
Sarah Kite from BUAV, the most common type of tests conducted at these
laboratories are toxicity tests such as the Lethal Dose Test (LD50), where
animals are force-fed a substance to find out at which dose half of them
die. Although this test is in decline, fixed dose procedures still
involve the pain and death of large numbers of animals.
Quintiles Toxicology
Pathology Services
Quintiles Toxicology Pathology Services is based in
Ledbury in Herefordshire and is part of the US owned Quintiles
Transnational Corporation, which describes itself as "the largest contract
research organisation in the world". It has more than 80 offices in 28
countries, and employs over 13,000 people world-wide. According to Tony
Peters from the campaign group ‘Stop Quintiles Animal Tests’ (SQAT), the
Ledbury site conducts tests for a number of commercial organisations and
uses mice, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs and beagles. Products tested
include drugs, cosmetics, household products, surgical implants, household
cleaners and agrochemicals. This information, like most of the
information gained by campaign groups has been gathered from workers and
ex-workers. SQAT’s campaign has concentrated on regular pickets outside
the laboratory with periodic larger demonstrations. So far, campaigners
claim some successes, with a number of workers leaving employment at the
laboratory as a result of the pickets. |
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Quintiles has a number of sites in the UK, however
Ledbury is the only one where animal tests are carried out. Because of
this, Tony Peters is optimistic that the company can be persuaded to
withdraw its investment in animal experimentation.
To find out how to add
your support to the campaign, dates of demonstrations and pickets,
contact: Stop Quintiles’ Animal Tests (SQAT), P.O. Box 127,
Kidderminster, Worcs DY10 3UZ. Phone Louise on 01562 745 778.
l Quintiles Toxicology Pathology Services, Bromyard Road, Ledbury,
Herefordshire HR8 1LH -Tel: 01531
634121
l Quintiles Transnational
Corporation, PO Box 13979, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA.
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Covance
Laboratories
Formerly known as Hazleton, the Covance laboratory in
Harrogate is owned by Covance Laboratories Inc. in the US. Covance
Laboratories Inc describes itself as "the world’s largest pre-clinical
toxicology research organisation" (sounds familiar) and has facilities
in the US and Germany as well as the Harrogate site.
According to its website, Covance Inc (the parent of
Covance Laboratories Inc) "conducts more development studies in a year
than any single pharmaceutical company" and employs over 6,000 people
world-wide, operating in 17 countries. Its 1997 revenue amounted to $591
million and clients included "the top 50 global pharmaceutical
companies". As well as offering testing, it also supplies and breeds
animals, claiming to be the worlds largest breeder of dogs for
experiments. Amongst the animals Covance Laboratories Inc. supply are
its own breed of dog, the trademarked "Mini-Mongrel
ä" (the mind boggles),
the registered Elite New Zealand WhiteÒ
rabbit and the "MutaäMouse", as well as
other purpose-bred canines, guinea pigs and non-human primates. Covance
is also known to be involved in importing wild-caught primates. Its
testing laboratory in Harrogate employees over 800 people and is also
planning to expand having recently "received permission to build another
toxicology lab on site". According to ARCNews, animals currently used in
the laboratories include dogs, primates, rabbits, mice, rats and birds and
there are thousands on site at any one time. An undercover investigator in
the early 90s discovered that macaques used in a drug inhalation test were
mistreated by technicians.
There is a campaign against Covance. You can contact them at: PO
Box 323, York.
l
Covance
Laboratory: Otley Road, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG3 1PY. Tel: 01432
500011.
l US Headquarters: 210 Carnegie
Center, Princeton, NJ 08540-6233.
l
There is also a free address and phone
number in the UK: Licence NO LS AC1, Covance Research Unit, Leeds,
Freepost, LS2 9NG. Tel: 0800 591 570.
Inveresk Research
International
Inveresk Research (not to be confused with the paper
company), based in Scotland is a member of the Swiss SGS Group (Societe
Generale de Surveillance). It provides "animal and human volunteer data"12
and offers research in pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, veterinary
medicines, biopharmaceuticals, chemicals and consumer products. Services
offered include acute toxicity, animal eye and skin irritation, animal
skin sensitisation and chronic toxicity tests13 and animals have included
rodents, dogs and primates. A BUAV research report published in July
1994 discovered that Inveresk was involved in using primates in
pharmaceutical research. BUAV was particularly critical of a study
involving six castrated cynomologus macaques which failed to point out the
possibility of species difference. BUAV commented that the 1986 Animals
(Scientific Procedures) Act was supposed to prevent studies such as this
one.
The parent company, SGS is well known for its
accreditation subsidiaries. They are accreditors for a social auditing
scheme as well as environmental accreditation schemes such as the Forest
Stewardship Council label.
l
Corporate Headquarters: Inveresk Research International Ltd,
Tranent EH33 2NE, Tel: 01875 614545
l
SGS
Generale de Surveillance Holding S.A, Rue des Alpes 8, CH-1211, Geneve 1,
Switzerland.
BIBRA
BIBRA (British Industrial Biological Research
Association) used to be the most prominent contract testing laboratory in
the UK. Based in Surrey, its income is derived from member subscriptions
and contract testing, mostly carried out for member companies. The last
publicly available membership list dates back to 1994 and included over
100 companies such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, British Sugar plc and Mars
Confectionery. During that year, BIBRA carried out 22,000 experiments on
animals. A call to BIBRA’s information department discovered that member
lists were no longer published for ‘security reasons’ and that information
about the number of tests it carries out was only available from the Home
Office, apparently unaware (or perhaps not) that the Home Office is
‘unable’ to release that information. According to BUAV, BIBRA has
reduced the numbers of animals used, but has yet to abandon animal testing
completely.
l
BIBRA
Toxicology International, Woodmonsterne Road, Carshalton, Surrey SM5 4DS.
Tel: 0181 652 1000.
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