Five leading British research universities were ordered yesterday (Apr. 8) by the government to reveal information about experiments involving primates after a three-year battle with an animal rights organization.

Image: flickr/thebuffafamily

The ruling applies to Oxford, Cambridge and Manchester universities, plus University College London and King's College London. All five must now release the numbers and species of primates used in current and previous research dating back to 2004. Universities regularly provide such data to the Home Office's Science and Research Group under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act. But while the Home Office routinely publishes annual statistics of scientific procedures involving animals, it does not break down these numbers by institution.

In July and August 2006, the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) filed Freedom of Information Act requests from each of fourteen UK research universities. Most of them complied with the request or said that they didn't conduct primate research, but the five affected by this week's decision appealed on the grounds that disclosing the information could endanger the safety of their researchers.

The Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, dismissed this argument. "[He] ruled that releasing the information would not increase the risk to the physical health, mental health, or safety of any person," an Information Commissioner's Office spokesperson said in a statement. Extremist campaigns against animal research are "on-going regardless of this information request, and [Thomas] can see no evidence to suggest that the current threat would increase with the release of the information requested."

"This is historic," BUAV's chief executive Michelle Thew told The Scientist. "All this research essentially happens behind closed doors and it's important that the public know what's actually done to animals in the laboratories."

The universities said they will comply with the ruling to release the information, but they defended their decisions not to do so voluntarily. "The only reason why universities are reluctant to divulge such information is because there are individuals who use illegal and threatening tactics to intimidate researchers," a University of Manchester spokesperson said in a statement.

A University College London spokesperson said in a statement: "While UCL aims to be as open and transparent as possible about our research, we also need to balance public interest issues against the fundamental need to protect our staff, who are carrying out lawful, regulated research."


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Activists halt Oxford lab
[20th July 2004]