“Animals are not for lab experiments” The slogan was chanted down at the Gwanghwamun Gate, Seoul, on April 24th. Two civil society organizations for animal rights, Vegan People and Korea Association for Animal Protection, were gathered to hold a press conference to urge companies to stop unethical and unscientific animal experiments. Observed every year on April 24th, the World Day for Laboratory Animals marked its 41st anniversary this year. Anti-animal experiment rallies and commemorations were held worldwide this week for animals that perish under clinical trials. However, the number of animal clinical trials is increasing, and sharp conflict is still ongoing between animal rights groups and scientific researchers about the need for using animals for clinical trials. -Ed.




Suspected illegal experiments on cats, at Seoul National University Hospital, gave rise to animal experiment dispute.

  Suspicion arose regarding an illegal animal experiment at Seoul University on April 23rd, the day before the World Day for Laboratory Animals. The accusation was directed at Seoul National University Hospital for exploiting stray cats by submitting them illegally to clinical trials and administering inhumane euthanasia. It has been just a year since a veterinary professor allegedly conducted illegal animal experiments on a retired drug-sniffing dog causing it to die. Also, an animal activist group, Beagle Rescue Network(BRN), published a press release on April 23rd, arguing that Seoul National University Hospital conduced illegal tests on cats. According to the press release, the group received a report by an anonymous informant that a professor of ENT at Seoul University Hospital bought six stray cats from an unauthorized cat seller to use as subjects to cochlear implant experiments. The researchers deafened the cats before implanting cochlear devices in their ears; however, they neglected the felines for years since then, without any further experiments or future plans for the animals. In addition to this, the group stated that in the process of euthanasia, the researchers administered potassium chloride without any anesthesia, which led them to death in extreme pain. What they criticize in particular is the point of purchase. According to article 24 of the Animal Protection Act, no person may conducts any animal testing on lost or abandoned animals. According to the BRN, the listed supplier farm of the subjects in the document was ambiguous; therefore, there is a higher chance that the supplier could be an illegal animal farm that captures and sells abandoned animals. An anonymous CBNU medical student expressed shock at the cruelty of animal experiments in an interview saying, “Not only do we need to publish this case widely, but we also need fundamental solutions such as reinforcing the legal standards and amending the Protection Act.” Seven days after releasing the article, Seoul National University Hospital finally asserted that the report of BRN is false. The accused hospital is planning on organizing an independent comittee to investigate the case.

10,000,000 people have pets, but where is the strict animal protection law?

  Even though more than ten million Korean adults own pets, the number of animal tests in Korea indeed increases every year. According to research released in 2018 at Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, animal tests increased from 1.97 million in 2013, to 3.72 million in 2018. Rodents, including mice and rats, accounted for more than 90 percent of the animal testing, while testing in the private sector accounted for 89.1 percent of experimentation, making it the largest part of the usage.
  Animal testing is classified into five scales based on pain; A being the least painful, to E being the most painful, and 36.4% of the total were in category E. 
  Despite this tendency of using animals in clinical trials, the applicable laws and regulations are questionable. There are two laws related to animal experiments; The Animal Protection Act and The Laboratory Act. However, experts pointed out the extremely vague subsections, which ended up being mere announcements. What is worse is that education institutes, such as university research do not even appear as a subject under the Laboratory Act. This blind spot acted as a trigger of the illegal animal tests on the drug-sniffing dog, May. Since the university laboratory is an exception to the regulation of banning the use of any other animal that serves or served a person or the State, May ended up being exploited and dead after retirement.

Pro Animal Test vs. Anti Animal Test

  The stance on animal experiments of animal protection groups is entirely different from researchers’. People who push against it argue that conducting clinical trials on animals does not have the same results even if it is successful. According to Speaking of Research, the international animal rights statistics site, less than two percent of human illnesses, 1.16%, are ever seen in animals. In addition to this, the typical example of their contention is the ‘Thalidomide Tragedy’ in 1950. Thalidomide is a medication used to treat morning sickness and trouble sleeping to pregnant women. The efficacy was so outstanding that it is sold in 50 different countries all over the world at that time. However, the magical remedy led to congenital disabilities. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, more than 12,000 newborn babies were born with deformities such as phocomelia, a condition that involves malformations of the arms and legs. Researchers conducted animal tests to find the cause of the congenital disability. However, it did not show any defect to them. Moreover, the group argues that animal test is unscientific and a gamble, saying the chances are only 5~10% that the result of an animal clinical trial would show the same outcome as that of a human clinical trial.
  On the contrary, the group that supports animal experiments says there is a field where it is necessary to use animals. Professor Sim Sung-bo at the School of Biological Sciences of CBNU says, “Biological science is a discipline to understand the human ultimately, and to use rats, which are 95% genetically similar, is the most efficient to embody the goal of the study.” Regarding the characteristics of the study, Professor Sim added that it is indispensable to experiment with mock-ups in the biochemistry studies.
  Of course, the animal protection group is well aware that the tests cannot be abolished at once, so they suggest prohibiting unethical and unnecessary methods, Animal Welfare, and the 3Rs to be exact. The 3Rs stands for Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement. As part of it, a movement to use models in animal dissection classes at some of the veterinary colleges in Korea. For example, the College of Veterinary Medicine at Konkuk University is going to use a model when they conduct a dissection class from next semester, and Seoul National University is under the progress of developing a detailed model using a 3D printer. Even though it is inevitable to use animals in the biological science field, some replace it with organoid, a stem cell cultivation technology. Individuals consuemers can also help greatly. Activist Yoon Na-ree from the Korean animal protection group Animal Liberation Wave emphasized the power of the citizen. “If consumers boycott the products which practice animal experiments, the market will change, and this will eventually be the basis of the change of the law and system,” she explained. Activist Yoon added in the interview, “As of now, Korea ends up in an empty slogan when it comes to 3Rs. This is why no matter how many times people or institutes violate them, they do not suffer any legal punishment. With the act of citizens, and a steady movement to revise the current law, the reduction of the number of laboratory animals and refinement of the pain would follow naturally.”

By Lee Ju-yeon
 jy37@cbnu.ac.kr
By Park Ji-min
 jm41@cbnu.ac.kr