More than 3.5 million animals were used and abused in British laboratories last year.  Each one was once a living, breathing, individual animal with a personality, a unique view of the world, distinct needs and a desire for life and freedom every bit as great as yours or mine. Each one would have felt loneliness and fear/physical or psychological pain, and many would have gone through agony as they were experimented upon.

Millions of individual animals  monkeys, cats, dogs, rabbits, rats and others are suffering and dying in laboratories as I write to you right now.

And their use is pointless!

Scientific breakthroughs of any real value come from human epidemiological research, human trials and modern methods that do not involve animals at all.

And scientists are becoming increasingly aware that non-animal research methods are not only humane but more precise and cost-effective.

Despite decades of testing on millions of animals, there is still no cure for the common cold  let alone Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's or strokes and no effective vaccine for AIDS. What's more, 92 per cent of drugs tested successfully on animals are shown to be ineffective or unsafe for humans.