A VEGAN group has staged an extraordinary demonstration against the use of animals in research by the British Heart Foundation.
Telford Vegan Group protested outside the Foundation’s offices in Wellington in Shropshire in the UK.
Some onlookers were stunned the group would put animals before vital life-saving research.
The group totally ignored he BHF’s statement that their research only uses animals when no other avenue is an option.
Other methods of research include growing cells in laboratories, computer models and, what animal rights activists fail to mention: human volunteers.
The much-loved charity conducts vital research into cardiovascular disease, which affects over 7 million people in the UK. The charity aims to develop better tests, treatments and cures.
Simon Gillespie, chief executive of the BHF, said that he was saddened to hear about the protest.
He said: “BHF research has been crucial to the discovery of life-saving breakthroughs for heart patients and has helped halve the number of people dying from heart and circulatory disease in the last fifty years.
“Every application for research funding goes through a rigorous review procedure
“We also require researchers to apply the highest standards of animal welfare.”
Gillespie was clear that the charity would not sacrifice its aim to fight heart disease at the expense of animal rights, adding “there is still so much to be done and, for the foreseeable future, that will involve using animals in research.”
