Anti-animal lab protest at Indian mission tomorrow

(Malaysiakini) People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) will launch a series of protests against the proposed animal testing facility in Malacca, starting tomorrow at the Indian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.

PETA Asia said the 1pm protest is only the start of their campaign against the facility, after failing to get any response to their letters from Malaysian and Indian authorities.

PETA Asia spokesperson Jason Baker was critical of Indian company Vivo Bio Tech Ltd, which entered a joint-venture with state-owned Melaka Biotech and Vanguard Creative Technologies Sdn Bhd to set up and run the RM500 million multi-laboratory facility.

“Vivo Bio Tech seems to think it can export the cruelty that it forces animals to endure,” he said in a statement.

“Hiring anonymous people in another country to conduct your dirty work does not make your business any less dirty.”

No regulations for minimum care 

PETA Asia stressed that while India has minimum standards of care for animals in laboratories which include shelter, food and veterinary care, Malaysia has no such regulations.

But even with welfare standards in place, the organisation pointed out that the animals are forced to live isolated in small cages and are subject to poisoning, burning, painful surgeries and periods without food and water.

Their counterparts in PETA India have also written to Vivo Bio Tech chief executive officer Dr A Sankaranarayanan, asking that they halt their plans to build the facility.

The proposed animal testing facility received an international backlash since the plans were made public in April, particularly after Malacca Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam (right) said it was man's “god-given right” to use animals for testing.

The facility, once completed, would use Beagles in their canine laboratory, white mice in their small animals lab and if they get the permits, they will source for primates locally for testing.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) Selangor, the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (Buav) and the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE) held the first protest against the facility in late April.

The three NGOs, which formed a coalition to protest against the facility, also put up an online petition, which they will submit to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Mohd Ali once they get 10,000 signatures.