Vernon Coleman - Animals

Evidence For House Of Lords Animal Procedures Committee

The House of Lords has appointed a committee to conduct an inquiry into the use of animals in scientific procedures in the UK. The committee has been instructed to pay regard to public attitudes.

Dr Vernon Coleman has sent the following evidence to the committee.

14.4.01

Evidence for Animal Procedures Committee

Dear Sirs

I can give the Committee the names of fifty drugs on the UK market which are known to cause cancer (or other serious disorders) in animals. The drug companies who make these drugs and the doctors who prescribe them argue that animal experiments are irrelevant (and can be ignored) because animals are different to people. If animal experiments are of value why are these drugs on the market?
Even the most optimistic and aggressive vivisectionist will not claim that more than 10-20% of animal experiments are of value. How do they know which vivisection experiments are claimed to be of value and which are misleading? The answer, of course, is that no one does know. And if you don't know which experiments are claimed to be of value, and which are dangerously misleading, then all the experiments done on animals must be worthless. If you are given 100 pieces of information and told that 80 pieces of information are wrong - but you aren't told which 20 are right - how can you possibly trust any of the information you are given?

There is no evidence to show that animal experiments are of value. To draw attention to the fact that animal experiments are entirely worthless I recently offered £100,000 to anyone who could produce indisputable clinical evidence to convince me that the millions of animal experiments done each year are relevant, reliable, effective and essential for human health. No one has claimed the money.

If the Committee would like to read my three books on this subject (Why Animal Experiments Must Stop, Animal Rights Human Wrongs and Fighting For Animals) I will happily send free copies. Free copies of all three books have recently been sent to 6,000 schools and colleges in the UK.

Yours sincerely

Professor Vernon Coleman MB ChB DSc

We suggest that you write and ask the committee to invite Dr Coleman to give oral evidence.

Write to:

Animal Procedures Committee
Select Committee on Animals in Scientific Procedures
Committee Office
House of Lords
London SW1A 0PW
Fax 020 7219 0277

Evidence must arrive by Wednesday 23rd May 2001.

Vernon Coleman