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We’re delighted that GB News invited us onto their breakfast programme with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster. You can watch the whole item and share on Facebook here.

Please also share Chris Packham’s wonderful tweet.

Ricky Gervais and Peter Egan welcome FLOE’s beautiful new Beagle Ambassador, rescued laboratory dog Betsy.

Ricky Gervais and Peter Egan welcome beautiful dog Betsy, who will be helping them end cruel experiments on puppies, and other animals. Betsy was rescued by the Dogs Trust when she was just a pup, saved from a cruel laboratory dog breeder in Ireland.

Betsy joins For Life On Earth (FLOE) as Beagle Ambassador.

Parliament EDM 175 closes with 110 cross-party signatures.

Parliament EDM 175 has closed with 110 cross-party MPs calling for its vital public scientific hearing, judged by independent experts from the relevant fields of science.

MPs debate Peter Egan’s petition: Change the Law to Include Laboratory Animals in the Animal Welfare Act.

Great cross-party MPs gathered at Westminster Hall to debate our Patron’s Parliament petition: Change the Law to Include Laboratory Animals in the Animal Welfare Act.  Many MPs took the opportunity to underline the urgent need for the EDM 278 public scientific hearing, to prove to the Government that they are being misled by a financial vested interest in animal experiments which has nothing to do with current medical and scientific knowledge.

Martyn Day MP led the debate, saying “it strikes me as unbelievable that, in this nation of professed animal lovers, laboratory animals are categorically excluded from the 2006 Act. We must not forget that that includes dogs and cats, who many of us take into our homes to love and care for and who enrich our lives. The 2006 Act legalises, for example, the daily force feeding of chemicals directly into the stomachs of factory farmed puppies without pain relief or anaesthetic.” 

Government Minister Kit Malthouse MP stated clearly that if laboratory animals were included in the Animal Welfare Act, no animal experiments would be permitted. 

Patricia Gibson MP said “what we need, and what my constituents want—what I believe most people across the UK want—is a public scientific hearing on animal experiments. We need a rigorous, public scientific hearing on claims that animals can predict the responses of humans, judged by a panel of truly independent experts from relevant fields of science. Surely, anyone who sincerely believes in scientific research and believes that animal testing is necessary would have no objection to such a public hearing?”

Dr. Lisa Cameron MP said “We really must find the time and place for this scientific hearing. Those who engage in the experiments should not shy away from a scientific hearing, because we will hear from the experts who can take this issue forward. Surely the Government should also support an urgent scientific hearing as a way forward.”

Margaret Ferrier MP said “Gene-based medicine is a rapidly developing science that allows treatment to be completely personalised based on a patient’s DNA. That could not be replicated through animal experimentation. Does the hon. Member agree that this kind of medical science must be prioritised when it comes to research, to avoid unnecessary harm to animals?” Martyn Day MP responded:” I agree entirely. That form of medicine is better not only for animals but for humans as well.”

To watch key clips from this vital Westminster Hall debate, please visit this link.

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 21st June 2021

Ricky Gervais and After Life co-star, Peter Egan, launch campaign to uncover harrowing footage of the factory farming of laboratory dogs in the UK.

Ricky Gervais and After Life co-star, Peter Egan, today launch a campaign to uncover harrowing footage showing the factory farming of laboratory dogs, right here in the UK. 

The footage filmed at MBR Acres reveals panic-stricken distress cries of thousands of Beagles, who are imprisoned indoors for their entire lives. The sounds of dogs crying for help crescendos as the building’s doors open: MBR workers can be seen grabbing dogs by the scruff of the neck and piling them into overcrowded trolleys; pitiful cries can be heard as individually crated up dogs are loaded onto a lorry, to be transported to laboratories across the UK.

As a nation of dog lovers, the Government’s new Animal Sentience Bill enshrines in law the ability of animals to experience joy, and feel suffering and pain.

MBR Acres agrees that their dogs are trained to be laboratory ready, including offering a paw for injections and accepting paper cups on their faces, in anticipation of wearing a gas mask. MBR Acres breeds between 1,600 and 2,000 dogs annually; from 16 weeks old the dogs are sold to laboratories across the UK, to be used in toxicity experiments that can involve being force fed chemicals every day for up to 90 days with no pain relief or anaesthetic. The dogs are killed at the end of the experiments.

Says Ricky Gervais: “I’m deeply shocked to learn that thousands of beautiful Beagles are intensively bred, right here in the peace of the British countryside, for painful and terrifying toxicity experiments that are also now proven to entirely fail the search for human treatments and cures. That’s why my campaign with rescued ex-laboratory dog, Scarlett Beagle, is so important: please help us raise awareness of this appalling state of affairs. Help me ban the factory farming of dogs, with a thorough public scientific hearing to judge the outdated and false claims about human medicine, which continue to fund this terrible cruelty to man’s best friend.”

Says Peter Egan: “With the recent passing of Finns Law Part Two, cruelty to dogs and other animals comes with an up to five years prison sentence. I am appalled, therefore, to learn that thousands of dogs are incarcerated in intensive breeding units, right here in the UK, to prepare them for frightening and painful experiments that can involve being force-fed chemicals for up to 90 days, with no pain relief or anaesthetic. Experts in the scientific community report widely on the failure of these procedures in the search for human treatments and cures, including the Editor in Chief of the British Medical Journal and the FDA, which states that nine out of ten new medicines fail to pass clinical trials because animals cannot predict human responses. Please join me, and cross-party MPs, in calling for a rigorous public scientific hearing, to ban the outdated and false claims about human medicine which continue to fund this terrible cruelty.”   

Ricky Gervais and Peter Egan are helping to launch new Parliamentary Early Day Motion 175 (EDM) tabled by Dr. Lisa Cameron MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Dog Welfare (APDAWG). The EDM calls for the Government to mandate a rigorous public scientific hearing on claims that experiments on dogs, and other animals, can predict the responses of human patients. The hearing will judged by independent experts from the relevant science fields – including clinical research, evolutionary biology, basic research, chaos theory, complexity science, philosophy of science and drug development. Never before has a panel of independent science experts judged a science hearing on animal testing.

The EDM’s called-for science hearing can quickly stop funding for the outdated practice of trying to model humans using animals, and increase funding for state-of-the-art human-based research – such as body-on-a-chip and gene-based medicine – which comes with a proven track record of success.

The EDM’s called-for science hearing can quickly stop finance of the outdated practice of trying to model humans using animals, and immediately increase funding for state-of-the-art human-based research – such as body-on-a-chip and gene-based medicine – which comes with a proven track record of success for human patients.

Says medical doctor Ray Greek, president of Americans and Europeans for Medical Advancement: “An immense body of empirical evidence has supported the position that animal models offer no predictive value for human response to drugs and disease. But perhaps more importantly, recent developments in evolutionary and developmental biology, genetics, gene regulation, gene expression, and gene networks gained in large part as a result of the Human Genome Project, in addition to advances in understanding complex systems, have significantly increased our understanding of why animals have no predictive value for human response to drugs or the pathophysiology of human diseases.” 

Says Dr. Lisa Cameron MP: “I’m delighted to be the primary sponsor for the new Parliamentary EDM 175, calling for a fair and rigorous public scientific hearing on animal experiments. Dogs are man’s best friend, yet thousands of Beagles are bred every year in the UK, for painful toxicity experiments that are today widely reported to be failing the search for human treatments and cures. Please join me in asking the Government to mandate this science hearing: ask your MP to sign EDM 175 to stop the funding of a failed practice and accelerate funding for human-based research, such as body on a chip and gene-based medicine, which comes with a track record of success.” 

TAKE ACTION TO HELP RICKY AND PETER!

Please ask your MP to sign the new Parliamentary EDM 175, simply type in your postcode at this link to write to your MP today: http://forlifeonearth.eaction.online

The EDM’s hearing is urgently needed because the Government is currently under the influence of outdated lobbyists from the animal testing sector, first institutionalised in 1847 by a doctor who went on to reject the Theory of Evolution.

Scientists in the wider scientific community, outside the animal-based research sector, openly acknowledge the failure of animal testing in the search for human treatments and cures, these experts include scientists in the pharmaceutical industry; Dr. Fiona Godlee, Editor in Chief of the British Medical Journal, who concluded her Editor’s Choice with the following statement: “If research conducted on animals continues to be unable to reasonably predict what can be expected in humans, the public’s continuing endorsement and funding of preclinical animal research seems misplaced.” [1]  The Food and Drug Administration states that 9 out of 10 new medicines fail to pass human trials because animals cannot predict responses in humans; [2] and the US-based National Cancer Institute says cures for cancer have been lost because studies in rodents have been believed. [3]

The medical field against using animal experiments for human patients is today led by Drs. Ray Greek and Niall Shanks: their Trans-Species Modelling Theory (TSMT) joins other great science Theories, such as the Theory of Evolution and Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, in explaining why something always occurs: in this case TSMT places decades of empirical evidence into the wider context of current understanding of evolutionary biology and complexity science, to explain why 90% of animal-tested drugs fail to pass human/clinical trials. [4]

ENDS

For interviews please contact Louise Owen, director of the science-based campaign For Life On Earth (FLOE). Emailfloelouise@gmail.com; UK mobile: 07751 873 389 

REFERENCES 

1.BMJ 2014;348:g3719 available here

2. FDA Issues Advice to Make Earliest Stages Of Clinical Drug Development More Efficient. FDA, June 2006   

3. Gura T: Cancer Models: Systems for identifying new drugs are often faulty. Science. 1997, 278 (5340): 1041-1042.

4. Lumley CE, Walker S Lancaster, Quay, editors, 1990, ‘Clinical Toxicity – Could it have been predicted? Post-marketing experience’, 57–67; Heywood R. Animal Toxicity Studies: Their Relevance for Man.

RESCOURCES

New exposé showing the factory farming of laboratory dogs in the UK

Ricky Gervais and Peter Egan’s campaign with rescued laboratory dog Scarlett Beagle.

Drs. Greek and Shanks’ Trans-Species Modeling Theory

Patients Campaigning for Cures

The science-based campaign For Life On Earth 

Dr. Jane Goodall celebrates the precedent ruling by a Government Inspector – on ‘national interest medical and scientific grounds’ – enabling Drs. Greek and Shanks to defeat plans by Cambridge University to build a multi-million pound primate laboratory: watch Dr. Goodall’s short film.

Press Release for WDAIL 2020

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, 22nd April 2020

As researchers across the world rush to test a coronavirus vaccine in people, without prior testing in animals, Ricky Gervais raises the vital question: is there any real scientific value in animal testing?

In a filmed conversation with medical doctor Ray Greek – to be published on social media for World Day for Laboratory Animals, 24th April – Ricky Gervais calls for a Government-mandated scientific hearing on animal experiments, judged by independent experts from the relevant fields of science. 

Founded upon current medical evidence, the hearing will expose the widely documented failure of animal tests in the search for human treatments and cures: a failure reported by the British Medical Journal [1] and Food and Drug Administration, which states that 9 out of 10 new human medicines fail in human clinical trials, because animals cannot predict human responses. [2] Pharmaceutical companies write openly about the failure of animal tests in their drug development process: [3] the US-based National Cancer Institute says we have lost cures for cancer because studies in rodents have been believed. [4] 

In their filmed conversation, Dr. Greek explains to Ricky why key biological differences between animals and humans lead to worthless and damaging results from animal experiments. Ricky Gervais says the outcome of this public science hearing “will be the greatest scientific discovery in the world: that animal testing doesn’t work, let’s stop it and put all this money into something that works… it’s a game changer.”

Ricky’s Facebook promo film – to be published on WDAIL, 24th April – will link to his full filmed conversation titled ‘Black, White and Vivisection,’ where Dr. Greek tells Ricky that a combination of outdated bogus claims about science and a multi-billion pound vested interest, dependent upon the continuation of animal experiments, are, today, real obstacles to finding human treatments and cures. 

Dr. Greek defeated plans by Cambridge University to build a multi-million pound primate laboratory, with a precedent ruling against the laboratory on ‘national interest, medical and scientific grounds’. Dr. Greek is president of Americans and Europeans for Medical Advancement (AFMA/EFMA) and co-developer with Dr. Niall Shanks of Trans-Species Modeling Theory (TSMT). Founded upon the Theory of Evolution, TSMT provides the scientific explanation for decades of evidence reporting the failure of animal testing.

Ricky will call upon MPs to sign new Parliamentary Early Day Motion 250, tabled by Dr. Lisa Cameron MP and calling for the science hearing: 

Says Ricky Gervais: “It’s time for the Government to mandate a thorough public scientific hearing on animal experiments and listen to expert judges who don’t have a vested interest in animal experimentation. Scientists publishing in peer reviewed science journals are clear that animal modelling of humans does not work; we need to listen to them because false science is still being used to fund appalling animal cruelty. That’s why I’m supporting Parliamentary EDM 250 and its call for a fair public science hearing.”

The hearing will lay the foundation for updating legislation, to prohibit animal modeling of human patients and redirect valuable funding towards state-of-the-art human-based research, such as body on a chip and gene-based medicine, in order to prioritise the arrival of effective human treatments and cures and end the suffering of laboratory animals.

The science hearing’s judges will include experts from the fields of clinical medicine, complexity / chaos theory, evolutionary biology, philosophy of science, clinical research, drug development and basic research.

The EDM’s science hearing is supported by its Patron Peter Egan, Dr. Jane Goodall, Chris Packham, Jane Fallon, Lesley Nicol and Paul O’Grady.

ENDS

For interviews please contact Louise Owen, founder and director of the science-based campaign For Life On Earth (FLOE) at floelouise@gmail.com or mobile 07751 873 389 

BACKGROUND 

Parliamentary EDM 250 opens with a tribute to rescued ex-laboratory dog Scarlett, who is Beagle Ambassador for the science-based campaign For Life On Earth (FLOE)  https://www.scarlettbeagle.org

The latest Home Office figures show that the numbers of dogs used in invasive experiments increased from 2,496 in 2017 to 2,909 in 2018. These experiments typically involve dogs being force fed chemicals for up to ninety days, with no pain relief or anaesthetic. 

Dr. Ray Greek defeated plans to build a multi-million pound primate laboratory at Cambridge University in 2002, with a precedent ruling on ‘national interest medical and scientific grounds’. Dr. Jane Goodall celebrated that victory in her filmed statement here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDaMPJVVssI

REFERENCES 

1. BMJ 2014; 348: g3719 available here https://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g3719

2. FDA Issues Advice to Make Earliest Stages of Clinical Drug Development More Efficient, FDA June 18th 2006 [cited March 7 2010]

3. Referenced quotes by pharmaceutical companies against animal testing, available here: https://www.forlifeonearth.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Pharmaceutical-Company-Quotes2.pdf

4. Gura T: Cancer Models: Systems for identifying new drugs are often faulty. Science 1997, 278 (5340): 1041-1042.

RESOURCES 

Parliamentary Early Day Motion 250 https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/56706/a-public-scientific-hearing-on-animal-experiments

Quotes by pharmaceutical companies against animal testing https://www.forlifeonearth.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Pharmaceutical-Company-Quotes2.pdf

Dr Ray Greek’s organisation, Americans and Europeans for Medical Advancement (AFMA/EFMA)  https://www.afma-curedisease.org/

Patients Campaigning for Cures https://www.patientscampaigningforcures.org/

Campaign with rescued ex-laboratory dog Scarlett Beagle, winner of Daily Mirror Inspirational Animal of the Year, 2018 https://www.scarlettbeagle.org/

The science-based campaign For Life On Earth (FLOE) https://www.forlifeonearth.org/

New film with Ricky Gervais and Dr Ray Greek.

This is a groundbreaking new film with Ricky Gervais in conversation with Dr. Ray Greek about the medical failure of animal experiments for human patients.

Dr. Greek calls for the science hearing outlined in Parliamentary Early Day Motion 66 – watch this space for a new EDM!

With the start of the new Parliamentary session on October 14th 2019, EDM 66 has now closed. It continues to provide a valuable reference point, please watch this space for a new EDM.

150 cross party MPs have now signed our EDMs, many now front benchers and therefore not allowed to sign EDMs, including the leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Zac Goldsmith MP and Diane Abbott MP.

FLOE on ‘Good Morning Britain’

FLOE’s Patron, Peter Egan, and one of our science consultants, Dr. Andre Menache, were guests on Good Morning Britain on Friday 22 February. This provided a perfect opportunity to expose the false claims of dog experimenter Prof. Dominic Wells.

Watch their interview here:

Peter Egan tweeted a with our consultant Dr Menache setting the record straight at the close of the film.

Experiments on dogs, and other animals, are now proven to be entirely incapable of predicting outcomes in humans. This position is widely reported in the peer reviewed scientific literature, including the British Medical Journal; by the FDA, the National Cancer Institute and pharmaceutical companies:

TAKE ACTION TO HELP!

Over 150 cross-party MPs have now signed four Parliamentary EDMs calling for a rigorous public scientific debate, about the vested interests’ claims: that animals can predict human responses. The debate will be judged by a panel of independent experts from the relevant fields of science. To ask your MP to sign the current EDM simply type in your postcode at this link and send your MP a letter today!