More than eight years ago now, when I first started working for the New Zealand Anti-Vivisection Society (NZAVS), I genuinely believed that the people who used animals in experiments must enjoy it. That they didn’t care about animals and were more concerned with making money and sticking to the status quo than they were about scientific integrity and output.
Now, my views are very different, as they are now based on real, lived experiences and interactions that I have had with members of the animal science and research industry.
In fact, a statement I have heard countless times by countless members of this industry is that "no-one wants to use animals in experiments".
This is a ground-breaking realisation. It is not that people want to harm animals for science, it is that there are huge barriers in place that are preventing replacing animals in science.
To remove these barriers, an unexpected, unified approach has been formed, here in New Zealand, and I have had the honour of having a front-row seat to this world first.
Just last week, the NZAVS and members of the animal science and research community teamed up and presented a case for scientific change to MPs at Parliament to remove those barriers; and ultimately reduce our reliance on animals used in research, testing and teaching.
Together, we asked these MPs to encourage the Government to:
— Allocate funding towards the use and development of animal-free methods.
— Commit to phasing out the requirements for animal testing in New Zealand law.
— Commit to phasing out the use of animals for science as technology permits.
It is not just the NZAVS and our thousands of animal-loving supporters but members of the industry, whom we have targeted, who also want progress.
The cherry on top is that more than 10 different key organisations from the animal science and research industry provided feedback on these three requests. The powerful consensus is that there is genuine, shared desire to see progress in these three areas.
Feedback was provided by industry heavy-hitters such as Universities NZ (representing all eight of our universities), the Cawthron Institute (New Zealand’s largest independent science organisation), the Australian and New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research and Teaching, and the Australian and New Zealand Laboratory Animal Association.
So we are in a unique position. We have both sides of an argument asking for the same thing. I am now utterly convinced, eight years on, that it is this unified better-together approach that will ultimately help us to create better long-term health outcomes for the people and animals of Aotearoa.
— Tara Jackson is executive director of the New Zealand Anti-Vivisection Society.
