ON April 24, to mark World Day for Animals in Laboratories, Animal Aid launched a new campaign called Mice Matter.
The campaign aims to educate people about the sensitivity of mice; how this cannot be accommodated in laboratories; how mice deserve the same consideration as other animals and how they differ from humans.
Animal Aid will also debunk the myths around the use of mice in research.
The species differences between mice and humans are myriad, which makes research on mice highly unreliable.
Some common conditions such as Alzheimer's do not occur naturally in mice, yet mice are still used in Alzheimer's research.
In an article in the Times , an academic stated, of mice “models of Alzheimer's: "You’re creating a problem that doesn’t exist in the mouse at all.
"You create the problem, you remove the problem".
He reportedly likened this to placing a plastic bag over someone’s head to simulate breathing problems, saying "It's easy to cure – you take the plastic bag off the head.
"But what have you really done?"
Jessamy Korotoga, Anti-vivisection campaign manager, Animal Aid
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