AN animal health centre in Suffolk has been criticised by animal rights campaigners for its involvement in 'chilling' scientific experiments on horses.
However, the Kentford-based Animal Health Trust has attacked its listing in the Mad Science Awards as misinformation which could stop science that saves animal lives.
The trust was listed four times in the awards, created by animal rights group Anim
al Aid.
The awards highlight an experiment to study cartilage damage in which they claim horses were exercised for 19 weeks and then killed for research.
The awards state: "It is particularly chilling that the Animal Health Trust – a leading veterinary charity – should engage in experiments whose endpoint is the killing of 12 perfectly healthy young horses."
The campaigners highlight three other experiments they claim the trust has been involved with, including research into oxygen starvation, lameness and sweating in horses.
They claim that such experiments are carried out with the racing industry in mind and not animal welfare.
However, a spokeswoman for the trust said the campaigners were misinformed.
"Our trust researchers use samples taken from animals used in other research projects to minimise the amount of animals killed for science.
"We did not carry out the initial experiment in which the animals were killed and Animal Aid's so-called awards do not make that clear."
She added that the sweating research would benefit horse racing but would also help Third World farmers who rely on horses to work in extreme temperatures.
"We accept funding from race owners because with it we can benefit horses everywhere," said the spokeswoman.
The trust has invited Animal Aid's director, Andrew Tyler, to visit the Kentford centre.
"We have the same aim as the campaigners – the welfare of animals – but we believe our research will help the majority of animals and this means a few will die in research.
"We have permits for everything we do and a separate ethics committee – we are also looking for alternatives to animal research," said the spokeswoman.
The trust is a charity employing more than 200 people which carries out a variety of experiments, research and veterinary procedures.
"It costs about £10 million to run per year and we rely on donations to keep us going.
"This sort of unhelpful and misinformed publicity could be disastrous for us – without funding we could not have discovered the vaccine for distemper which has saved thousands, if not millions of dogs' lives," said the spokeswoman.
