YVONNE SMALLEY,
Madam, - Regardless of one's ethical view on the use of animals in experiments, living animals should never be regarded as mere "resources", as referred to by Prof David McConnell of Trinity College and Dr Jane Rogers of the Sangar Institute, UK, when talking about the mouse genome (The Irish Times, December 5th).
This terrible attitude that mice are "laboratory tools" or "models" prevails among scientists. But mice are not "resources" or tools. They are very much alive and feel pain and fear.
Millions of mice are genetically modified to be born blind, deliberately deformed and programmed to develop painful tumours and appalling diseases in an attempt to mimic human conditions. It is now well known that manufactured diseases in mice behave differently to spontaneous diseases in us. The mice become sick animals, not "models".
Yesterday, December 10th, was International Animal Rights Day. Perhaps Ireland's many scientists working on mice might pause and reflect on the suffering they are causing to real animals, accept that the sentient creatures in their laboratories are individuals, not a "resource", and treat them accordingly. - Yours, etc.,
YVONNE SMALLEY, Irish Anti-Vivisection Society, Greystones, Co Wicklow.