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Ricky Gervais Petition To Stop Animal Testing Has Almost Reached 100k Signatures

Ricky Gervais Petition To Stop Animal Testing Has Almost Reached 100k Signatures

Comedian Ricky Gervais is very close to getting his Petition debated in UK Parliament.

Anish Vij

Anish Vij

Ricky Gervais's petition to stop animal testing has been signed by over 97,000 people - just a few thousand signatures away from hitting the 100,000 needed for a discussion in parliament.

The signed document is calling for a change in law with regards to laboratory animals in the Animal Welfare Act, which prevents 'unnecessary suffering' to protected animals, looked after by humans.

However, the act doesn't apply for scientific or educational purposes.

Gervais wasn't alone in setting up the campaign, as actor Peter Egan also contributed.

Twitter

The petition page reads: "A recent exposé showed harrowing footage of the factory farming of laboratory dogs in the UK.

"Experiments on such dogs, and other animals, are today widely reported to be entirely failing the search for human treatments and cures.

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"Current science from multiple fields proves that animal-based research and testing is not viable.

"The Government should therefore change the law to include laboratory animals under the protection of the Animal Welfare Act, to prevent their unnecessary suffering."

The page was originally launched due to viral footage on social media that showed dogs were seen to be loaded onto a lorry in small cages.

As shown in the footage, the dogs appeared to be fed an unknown substance through a tube.

Gervais said at the time: "It's heart breaking to hear these puppies crying out for mercy and help.

"We need an immediate ban on this shocking animal cruelty."

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The government responded to the petition in August this year and said: "The use of animals in scientific research remains a vital tool in improving our understanding of how biological systems work both in health and disease."

An open letter was also sent to Britain's main proponent of animal experiments (Prof. Colin Blakemore) and was signed by Ricky Gervais, amongst others.

It read: "The farm will purpose breed around 2,000 dogs annually, destined for painful and traumatic laboratory experiments - typically involving dogs being force-fed chemicals in experiments lasting ninety days with no pain relief or anaesthetic.

"According to current medical knowledge the results of such experiments are not capable of predicting the responses of human patients, a position highlighted by The British Medical Journal in its Editor's Choice, June 2014.

"Over a hundred MPs, to date, have signed Parliamentary EDMs to hear this evidence in a public scientific debate, overseen by independent judges from the relevant fields of scientific expertise."

Featured Image Credit: K9 Magazine

Topics: Ricky Gervais