The State has been accused of “not doing enough” to stop animals suffering during laboratory tests, the Irish Anti-Vivisection Society . 

Presently in Ireland, there are close to 100,000 animals being used by scientists to test the safety of products they hope can be sold to humans.

Some of these tests are for products that are medical in nature, while others are cosmetic.

Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast,  Irish Anti-Vivisection Society policy consultant Dan Lyons said many of these animals have “suffered quite severely” while undergoing the tests.

“Most of these animals were used to test botox type products, which are about the most severe kind of animal tests you can do,” he said.

“The animals that receive the highest doses on these tests, they start to suffer paralysis and then after about a day or so, the respiratory muscles start to fail and they die of asphyxiation.”

Regulation

Responsibility for animal testing in Ireland lies with the Health Products Regulatory Authority.

The body must licence each animal test and only does so if it has concluded there are “no alternative non-animal methods are available”.

There are also rules mandating that the number of animals used in such tests be kept as low as possible and that “only the minimum necessary pain, suffering and distress are caused.”

Despite this, Dr Lyons believes they “aren’t doing enough to control this suffering”.

“It’s wrong to knowingly inflict pain and suffering on animals,” he said.

“Having said that, technologically speaking, 60 or 70-years-ago, animal testing was seen as a way of pre-testing products and medical inventions before [using them on] humans.

“We now know there are a lot of differences between different species of animals, so doing tests on animals doesn’t always give reliable indications as to what happens to human beings.”

Animal testing on a pig.

Some cosmetic products might also be used for medicinal purposes - such as botox which is used to treat both wrinkles and migraine.

Dr Lyons believes the line is now too blurred and companies need to be upfront about what their products will be used for.

“The Government needs to say, ‘You need to be honest whether this product is destined for medical or cosmetic use,’” he said.

“We could stop almost half of the suffering of animals in Irish laboratories if the Government and companies were just honest.”

In a statement to Newstalk, the Health Products Regulatory Authority said they share the EU's goal of "complete replacement of animal studies" in the future.

In the meantime, they "operate in full conformity with EU and national law to ensure that animal suffering is minimised wherever animals must be used in scientific studies."

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Main image: A lab worker with a rat. Image: Ievgen Chabanov / Alamy Stock Photo