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news release
 KOREAN
PIG ORGAN TRANSPLANT PLANS SPARK INTERNATIONAL ALARM
Animal protection group Uncaged has slammed plans revealed yesterday
by the South Korean Government to pump millions of pounds into pig organ
transplant research over the next six years. [1]
Uncaged has led international opposition to animal organ transplants
- known as 'xenotransplantation' - for a decade.
In April 2003, Uncaged won a historic legal battle in Britain against
the international drug corporation Novartis to reveal secret 'xeno' research
papers leaked from the company based at Cambridge, England. Uncaged successfully
argued that the highly confidential papers revealed that the cruel and
deadly vivisection of hundreds of primate had failed to deliver any progress
on overcoming the violent rejection suffered by cross-species transplants.
[2]
Uncaged is deeply concerned about animal rights and public health dangers
of the South Korean announcement. Campaigns Director Dan Lyons
comments:
"Pig-to-primate organ transplant experimentation has caused
controversy across Europe and North America because of the appalling
cruelty involved and the danger of creating a new viral epidemic. With
South Korea's terrible animal welfare reputation - symbolised by dog
eating - and the recent lethal SARS outbreak in the Far East, this announcement
will ring alarm bells around the world.
"What is the point of Britain refusing to allow cross-species
transplants if they take place in countries with no regulation? Viruses
don't need passports."
Uncaged has written to the Korean Embassy to ask whether the moral and
scientific issues have been properly considered and what measures the
Koreans have in place to monitor animal welfare and prevent viruses escaping.
Uncaged has also alerted the British Department of Health, which has repeatedly
stressed the need for international cooperation, to urge them to make
representations to the South Korean Government.
An international coalition of animal protection and public health groups
is already forming to oppose the Korean plans. With pig organ transplant
research fading in the west, the revival of the technology is a major
concern that represents a backward step for international animal welfare.
Dan Lyons states:
"Xenotransplantation is more like bioalchemy than biotechnology.
Drug companies have sacrificed tens of millions of pounds and tens of
thousands of innocent animals, only to find that the whole idea is a
cruel deception. With 180 million years of evolution separating pigs
from humans, and advances in stem cell technology and other alternatives,
we urge the South Koreans to consider whether this is really a good
investment.
NOTES:
- www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/01/1086058836809.html
- www.xenodiaries.org/pr030420.htm
RELATED LINKS
Uncaged Campaigns 03.06.04 |
