Were you told that the animals were anaesthetised? That painkillers were mandatory? That researchers ensured the animals’ well-being? That ethics committees were solid guarantees?
After months of investigation, Animal Testing now brings you the revealing testimony and footage provided by the first whistleblower working for a large Paris-based research laboratory.
The irregularities that were identified include:
- Painful experiments that were carried out without anaesthesia.
- Anaesthesia that made animals blind or caused them to lose their eyes.
- Failure to take the « limits » into account: animals dying in needless pain when experiments should have been stopped earlier.
- Failure to use painkillers (analgesics) during certain painful protocols because these would « affect the results » of the experiments.
- Ethics committees that do not function properly and internal hierarchical pressure to validate experiments that should not be allowed due to the pain inflicted on the animals.
Our whistleblower explained that trying to defend the animals’ interests was perceived by the committees as « bothering everyone. »
This investigation also highlights the suffering of the laboratory staff who tend to the animals and are often powerless to do anything about the suffering that the animals have to endure. This is why our whistleblower chose to speak out: she couldn’t bear the situation any longer.
We salute her courage and hope the taboo she spoke of can break the code of silence.
