More Say “No” To Animal Testing

A news report states that the build up to stop the proposed RM500 million animal testing facility in Alor Gajah, Malacca has gained momentum, with close to 6,000 people from at least 25 countries having signed an online petition in protest.

The petition is sponsored by SPCA Selangor, Friends of the Earth Malaysia, British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) and the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE). The petition demands that the government “act in all expediency to quash this proposal”.

The petition also claims that the half-billion ringgit project should be scrapped “for ethical reasons and for the lack of scientific validity in extrapolating data obtained from animal testing to humans”.

According to the news report, mnce 10,000 signatures have been collected, the petition will be sent to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Malacca Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam.

Protests started in late April after it was made known that state-owned Melaka Biotech entered a joint-venture with Indian biotechnology giant Vivo BioTech Ltd and local company Vanguard Creative Technologies Sdn Bhd to set up primate, small animals and canine testing laboratories in the state.

The project will be undertaken by joint-venture company Vivo Biotech Sdn Bhd, formed with all three companies as partners after the memorandum of understanding was inked in New Delhi last January by Mohd Ali and representatives from Vivo BioTech and Vanguard.