Extremists on both sides of the vivisection debate

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair has accused those opposed to animal testing as ‘extremists’ — but it is just as extreme to support all animal testing as it is to oppose it entirely.

On the one hand, there are experiments that cause little suffering and result in considerable benefits; on the other, there are tests that cause appalling cruelty and do nothing but satisfy idle curiosity and confirm the obvious.

These could be done from epidemiological studies or computer models, or are simply a long shot by companies to increase profits. LD50 tests are a legal requirement and involve forcing animals to ingest increasing quantities of a substance until half of them die.