SPECIAL SECTION: ON ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION:
SEEKING COMMON GROUND | |
Bringing Both Sides Together
KENNETH
BOYD a1
a1 Edinburgh University Medical School,
Institute of Medical Ethics, and Church of St. John
the Evangelist, Princes Street, Edinburgh, Scotland
| |
AbstractIt began in 1992, with two men walking out of a
television studio. Colin Blakemore, Oxford Professor of
Physiology, is a quiet-spoken, eloquent defender of the
use of animals in medical research. Les Ward, Director
of the Edinburgh-based Advocates for Animals, is a passionate
opponent of animal use. Bringing them together in front
of an invited audience with strong opinions on both sides
would make the sparks fly and be good viewing. But Blakemore
and Ward, retiring after yet another bout that neither
side won, were dissatisfied. Both knew that media debates
gave them a chance to highlight the flaws and evasions
in the other side's arguments, and perhaps to recruit
some new supporters to their own. But Ward realized that
this was not enough to achieve the radical change he wanted:
replacement of animals by other methods. And Blakemore
disliked defending animal experiments against all comers.
He too wanted to replace animals, albeit only when this
could be done without forgoing the real benefits of research.
|
