David Priestman has had enough

When animal rights extremists started using violence and intimidation in the early 1980s, scientists became more and more shy about speaking openly about their work.  This grew into a ‘climate of fear’ which still exists to such an extent that most people involved in medical research are so intimidated and in fear of personal assault that they dare not speak out.  This includes NHS doctors and nurses who see the benefits of medical research developed using animals each and every day.

Although I’ve always been happy to explain to people I meet about research I’ve been involved in here in Oxford (diabetes, obesity, genetic diseases in children and epilepsy), the reality of intimidation by the animal activists didn’t hit until the new animal lab started being built. SPEAK (formerly ‘Stop Primate Experiments at Cambridge’, now ‘a voice for the animals’) then began regular demonstrations very close to the labs in the science area where I work.  After a while, threats of violence and intimidation resulted in the building contractors pulling out, delaying work for over a year.

It’s ironic that anti-vivisectionist extremists managed to delay the completion of a building specifically designed to provide the best possible conditions for the animals and also for the research which will take place there.  Ideas of the new labs being a ‘monkey death camp’ are an illogical and morbid fantasy propagated by the likes of SPEAK who promoted a similar campaign leading to the cancellation of a laboratory project in Cambridge. The reality is that the new labs in Oxford are being built to replace antiquated labs in several departments in the science area.  They are for ongoing research, more than 95 per cent of which uses rodents amphibians or fish.

Insulting proclamation

Because scientists have been cowed into not talking about their work publicly, the anti-vivisectionist minority, including organisations such as the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV), Europeans for Medical Progress (EMP) and SPEAK  have had free rein to spread lies, rumour and junk science which simply don’t hold up to scrutiny.

One of the things that insults me most is their proclamation that animal research is somehow ‘unscientific’, yet they are not scientists themselves.  Unfortunately, much of what they say is believed by a gullible minority and that is why it is time for scientists to talk openly and publicly ourselves. Our work is not an embarrassing secret, and the time is long overdue for all of us to be proud of what we do and not be afraid to be frank and explain the absolute need to use animals in medical research.

Although scientists and doctors regularly present their work at meetings and conferences and publish their findings in learned journals, they don’t often have to communicate directly with the lay public. Without animal research, medical treatments which we take for granted would not exist.  This needs to be emphasised and it’s time for us to speak out more effectively about our work to the general public, they have a right to know and we have a duty to tell them.

Pro-Test

I was astonished and somewhat embarrassed that it took a bold, sixteen year-old student, Laurie Pycroft, to stand up to the protestors in January this year.  Together with a group of Oxford students, Laurie founded Pro-Test, a movement formed explicitly to support the completion of the new lab, to dispel the ‘climate of fear’ and to promote the use of animals in medical research in rational debate.

Soon afterwards, Pro-Test held a march in Oxford which drew a crowd of over one thousand people, many of them University students who had been told by animal extremists that they were ‘legitimate targets’ for action.  When I heard about Pro-Test and the march, I was delighted that, at last, people were beginning to refuse to feel threatened and declare their support for medical progress. Having been asked to join the committee, I was able to help in the organisation of a second march early in June which included speeches from politicians, scientists and writers.   The march drew fewer students than in January, but was attended by many more academics who were prepared to stand up to the extremists.

In summary, I‘m amazed that a small group of 'animal rights' people have been able to dictate to the majority for so long. I'm tired of their lies. I've never been intimidated and refuse to be so. I really hope that my putting my own name and photo in the public domain (on the Pro-Test website) will encourage more scientists here in Oxford and elsewhere to be proud of what they do and to discuss their work without fear.

Dr David Priestman is in the Pharmacology Department at the University of Oxford with specialist interests in clinical genetics and epilepsy