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Please take immediate action against Vivotecnia
The animal testing laboratory Vicotecnia in Madrid, Spain is about to test on and then kill 38 beagles in a very painful manner without regard for their sentience, any laws and any public outcry. Several animal welfare organizations have reached out to them, asking that they release the beagles to them, specifically the United States charity, Beagle Freedom Project , which has stated it has homes for all of these dogs, however there has been no response. The Directive states: "At the end of the procedure, the most appropriate decision should be taken as regards the future of the animal on the basis of animal welfare and potential risks to the environment. The animals whose welfare would be compromised should be killed. In some cases, animals should be returned to a suitable habitat or husbandry system or animals such as dogs and cats should be allowed to be rehomed in families as there is a high level of public concern as to the fate of such animals." Sadly, these abhorrent tests come on the heels of an undercover investigation that spanned from 2019-2020 at Vivotecnia documenting sickeningly cruel behavior inflicted upon the animals that not only violates the EU Directive 2010/63/EU, but violates all animal welfare laws at the very least and any sense of morality. The disturbing footage is here: https://youtu.be/joH_DR8heJI Employees can be seen violently shaving beagles’ heads and angrily taking a thick black pen to their heads in order to draw a number on them, as seen in the photo. The degrading sick nature of this behavior is not only unnecessary but cruel and violates any minimum of animal welfare standard. Then, we see an individual shoving a tube down a beagle’s throat in an attempt to administer oral gavage. It is clear this person has no regard for the beagle’s pain, feelings or care, nor does this person have any experience or expertise in performing this procedure in any ethical and scientific manner. The dogs are shown being picked up by the scruff of the neck and thrown into boxes or cages. Legislation in Spain requires that all personnel working with animals for scientific purposes must have “adequate prior training.” When the footage was released, despite the violations of law and public outrage, Vicotecnia was never closed and was allowed to continue operations. The Madrid Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food had decided that animal tests at the facility could resume. On November 25, 2021, Spain passed a novel law giving animals sentience, thereby essentially stating that animals are no longer considered “objects” by the law. Animal “sentience” refers to the ability of animals to feel and experience emotions such as joy, pleasure, pain, fear and any other feelings humans feel. This law is critical because it recognizes that animals used in experimental research and testing feel the pain inflicted upon them. As if we did not already know that, at least now it is codified in law. Furthermore, the EU directive 2010/63/EU encompasses the Three R’s in legislation. This means that Spain should be adhering to: 1. Replacing animals with non-animal methods as much as possible, 2. Reducing the use and number of animals as much as possible, and most poignantly for purposes of this letter, 3. Refining experimentation methods in order to cause the least amount of suffering possible. ls should not be walking free amongst others in society and the laboratory should be closed. The Penal Code (2015) provides that the mistreatment of any animals with the exception of non-captive wild animals, is punishable by up to two years imprisonment. The directive states: "Animals have an intrinsic value which must be respected. There are also the ethical concerns of the general public as regards the use of animals in procedures. Therefore, animals should always be treated as sentient creatures and their use in procedures should be restricted to areas which may ultimately benefit human or animal health, or the environment. The use of animals for scientific or educational purposes should therefore only be considered where a non-animal alternative is unavailable. Use of animals for scientific procedures in other areas under the competence of the Union should be prohibited." We implore the EU to take action, release the animals inside Vivotecnia, prosecute the animal abusers inside Vivotecnia and close it down.
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