.jpg) | |
| Type | Pressure group |
|---|---|
| Focus | Opposition toanimal testing |
| Location |
|
Area served | UK wide |
Key people | Danny Flies (Chairman) Sophie Kennerley (UK Coordinator) Dr Andre Menache (Scientific Consultant) |
| Website | www.stopvivisection.org.uk |
TheAnti-Vivisection Coalition (AVC) is a United Kingdom-basedpressure group which campaigns againstanimal testing. The AVC are described as 'main driver' of the Stop Vivisection Initiative, a petition launched in November 2012 which attracted more than a million signatures. The Stop Vivisection Initiative called upon theEuropean Union to ban animal testing. If the signatures are verified, "the initiative will be granted hearings at theEuropean Commission and theEuropean Parliament".[1]
The AVC attracted local media attention in 2014 for protests againstprimate testing. The group launched anonline petition against the use of taxpayer money for theUK Government funding of primate tests, signed by thousands of people,[2] and criticisedNewcastle University's Institute of Neuroscience for conducting experiments onmacaques, calling for the UK Government to stop funding the experiments, and calling on Newcastle University to release the animals.[3]
More than fifty people attended a protest outside of theNational Institute for Biological Standards and Control inPotters Bar, which the AVC claims continues to test old drugs on animals unnecessarily. The National Institute, in response, described their experiments as "crucial".[2] The AVC also campaigns againstCambridge University's experiments on primates. The group's efforts rejuvenated a prior campaign against the practice, stating:
"2014 marks 10 years since the British people spoke out against sickening primate experiments by stopping a new monkey laboratory being built in Cambridge. This was a call for change, but the government continues to present money from the very people who oppose these tests to fund the vivisectionists who undertake them."[4]
University spokespeople rejected the calls from the AVC to stop the testing, with one saying that "Without animal research, which is only used when there is no alternative, many treatments we take for granted today would not be possible."[4]
On 15 February 2014, members of the AVC gathered outsideSenate House in Cambridge to campaign against the university's use of animal testing. The members wore redboiler suits and carried littorches. A Spokesperson for AVC stated: "Our demonstration at the University of Cambridge was to show the public the sickening face of primate tests, where animals have had their skulls cut open and electrodes implanted into their brains." University spokespeople reiterated their support for animal testing, saying that it "offers the greatest hope of effective treatments for conditions such as cancer, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, strokes and transplants".[5] In that month, the Anti-Vivisection Coalition also spoke out against experiments taking place atHarwell Science and Innovation Campus.[6]
The group has not posted on Facebook since October 2015, and its website is no longer up. However, the Belgian/Dutch counterpart, Anti-Dierproeven Coalitie, remains active.
| Main articles |
|  |
|---|---|---|
| Testing on | ||
| Issues | ||
| Controversial experiments | ||
| Companies | ||
| Groups and campaigns |
| |
| Writers and activists | ||
| Legislation | ||
