LIMERICK animal rights activists are urging people caught up in the latest social media craze to dump the ice bucket challenge, claiming donations may fund “painful, outdated animal experiments”.
Founded by Limerick man John Carmody, the Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN) is calling on people to think twice before taking part in the fundraiser warning those who are doing so, that their money may fund painful, outdated animal experiments.
“ARAN does not want to be a killjoy,” says ARAN founder John Carmody.
“Kind people all over the city and beyond are taking part in this challenge to help alleviate the suffering of human beings, but what most people are not aware of is that their money may very well fund painful, crude experiments on mice who have holes drilled into their skulls and then inflicted with crippling illnesses. We think people would be horrified to learn of this,” he insists.
ARAN is urging people to support only charities that fund modern, human-relevant research that will further medical progress as opposed to animal-experiments that delay and confuse these results for the most part.
The Irish animal advocacy group also said it is now looking into whether the Irish Motor Neuron Disease Association funds animal experiments.
“We are aware that the USA chapter does, in fact, fund animal experiments. In the past decade, only about a dozen experimental MND treatments have moved on to human trials after being shown to alleviate the disease in animals. All but one of these treatments failed in humans — and the one that ‘passed’ offers only marginal benefits to humans who suffer from MND.
“This massive failure rate is typical for animal experiments, because even though animals feel pain and suffer like we do, their bodies often react completely differently to drugs and disease,” said Mr Carmody.
‘Baywatch’ star Pamela Anderson refused to do the ice bucket challenge last week, criticising the charity campaign that has raised millions for Lou Gehrig’s disease research, because of alleged links to animal experimentation.
