DutchNews.nl,
Friday 28 February 2014
"Every
animal that we can make
redundant counts," said Dijksma.
(NOS/ANP)
|
New
technology makes much animal testing unnecessary and it should be phased out as
much as possible, the minister says in her statement.
In
addition, practices which cause pain to animals, such as cutting off a toe from
newly-born mice for identification purposes, should be phased out, she said.
Surplus
Breeding
genetically manipulated animals has led to a surplus and this should also be
tackled, the minister says.
The animals
are raised for experimentation but never used. In 2012, nearly 525,000 animals
– mainly mice and fish - were surplus to testing requirements.
Nearly
590,000 animals were used for experimentation in relation to human health last
year.
Licences
The new
legislation will require breeding programmes using genetically manipulated
animals to be licenced.
Dijksma has
also asked the Dutch Academy of Sciences to come up with recommendations for
reducing the use of primates like chimps in animal testing.
Talks are
also underway with animal rights groups to work out ways to take better care of
animals which are no longer being used for testing.
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