SA grapples with tests conducted on animals

Scientific tests continue to be carried out on animals behind closed doors while a bill seeking to criminalise their use for testing cosmetics is still under discussion in South Africa.

The national assembly is yet to receive and review the Animals Protection Amendment Bill which aims to regulate the use of animals for cosmetic tests.

The Department of Agriculture‚ Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) recently asked for public comment on the bill which intends to ban the sale of cosmetic products that were tested on animals‚ criminalise the testing of cosmetics on animals‚ and criminalise the failure to provide an animal with an appropriate environment.

Mongezi Mabungane from the DAFF said the bill is yet to be presented to the National Assembly after a set committee had interrogated it.

German automaker Volkswagen recently suspended its head of external relations over allegations that monkeys had been subjected to the fumes of diesel engines.

The scandal follows a controversy around software installed In VW vehicles to make their engines appear to be less polluting to the environment.

However‚ the case is not unique. Thousands of animals get scalded‚ poisoned‚ electrocuted and are left to suffer behind closed doors in laboratories when used for scientific or cosmetic testing.

This is according to an activist for animal safety from Beauty Without Cruelty‚ Toni Brockhoven.

Brockhoven said many people believed that animal tests took place in the cosmetic industry or with medical experiments but in reality‚ almost everything we use has been tested using animals.

“These animals suffer behind closed doors. These animals‚ who don't smoke‚ drink to excess‚ abuse drugs‚ overeat or eat the wrong things all suffer at the hands of humans‚ in an attempt to fix often self-induced human disease and illnesses‚” she said.

“The thing is that the tests fail. The difference in species results in varying and wildly inaccurate reactions to the detriment of both human and non-human alike‚” said Brockhoven.

Almost all types of animals are used for testing purposes‚ from aquatic‚ domestic to wild animals.

“They test on animals because they say they aren't like us‚ and test on them because they are like us. That’s the logic‚” added Brockhoven.

Several times‚ the use of animal testing for human benefit has failed.

“Surgeons thought they had perfected radial keratotomy [surgery performed to enable better vision without glasses] on rabbits‚ but the procedure blinded the first human patients‚” said Brockhoven‚ citing one example.

“The rabbit cornea is able to regenerate on the underside‚ whereas the human cornea can only regenerate on the surface. Surgery is now performed only on the surface.”

Beauty Without Cruelty is advocating for the ban of animal testing entirely.

However‚ an academic involved in animal ethics did not agree with the perception that ethical considerations were not taken into account when animals were subjected to tests.

Dr Bert Mohr‚ a director and Veterinarian at the Centre for Animal Research at the University of Cape Town‚ said there were many checks and balances that took place before animals were used.

“In South Africa we use animals for scientific purposes and the process is regulated and overseen by an ethics committee. This committee is responsible for evaluating the potential harm of the test to the animal. It then gives direction. I wouldn’t say that there is a misuse of the practice‚” said Mohr.

The animal welfare organisation‚ the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA)‚ formed part of the regulation committee‚ says Mohr.

According to the academic‚ South Africa abides by set international standards.

“Around 200‚000 animals per year are used for scientific research in the country‚” he added.