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february 15, 2017 \ newsweekly - € 0,75 \ read more at www.flanderstoday.org current affairs \ p2
politics \ p4
Socialist shake-up
BUSiNESS \ p6
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Power up
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Fashion forward
As a Ghent city councillor resigns, Flemish politicians are debating how to handle board memberships and their resulting remunerations
A unique kind of library had popped up in Brussels, lending power and hand tools to DIYers who might only need them once
A new museum showcasing some of Manneken Pis’s best outfits has opened near the beloved statuette in Brussels
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A testing dilemma Undercover video reignites debate on using animals in medical research Andy Furniere More articles by Andy \ flanderstoday.org
The release of an undercover video showing mistreatment of lab animals at VUB has prompted scientists, politicians and activists to consider the future of animal testing in Belgium.
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ast November, animal rights organisation Gaia released undercover footage recorded at the Free University of Brussels’ (VUB) animal unit in Jette. Throughout the seven-minute video, shot by an undercover researcher, the unit’s staff handle mice and rats roughly, as other seemingly stressed rodents jump or run around their cages incessantly. In the clip, the investigator, whose identity remains unknown, says that the animals were suffering needlessly in overcrowded cages and from painful deaths. There is
a distinct lack of care by the scientists, we hear, many of whom are unaware of even the most basic regulations concerning the treatment of lab animals. The undercover footage has again intensified the animal testing debate among activists, researchers and policymakers. The government of the Brussels-Capital Region quickly responded to the video, while the government of Flanders announced investments in the development of alternative methods, aspiring to play a leading role on the European stage. According to Gaia’s president, Michel Vandenbosch, the investigation shows there is a need for stricter monitoring, but also for a radical change of mentality among scientists. “We need a new generation of researchers who don’t just reduce test animals to research tools,” he says, “but possess
the empathy to fully realise that these are living, sentient and vulnerable beings.” But at least one scientist believes most researchers already have the greatest respect for lab animals. Dr Adrian Liston of the University of Leuven (KU Leuven) has been an animal rights advocate his entire adult life, he says. When he first entered medical research, he considered participating in a research project that did not use animals so that his dual passions did not come into conflict, but decided against it. “I could not bear being a hypocrite, willing to take advantage of the outcome of animal testing but not to get my own hands dirty,” he says. “Animal testing is the bedrock of medical research. We need to accept that our advances depend on the work done on animals.” continued on page 5