The reasons why animal testing persists are often not scientific
but conservatism within the scientific establishment and the
bureaucratic hurdles to implementing and enforcing the use of
alternative methods. Here are some examples of the changes we
support to help move society away from animal testing. The
scientific community is on the whole resistant to change. This
might seem counter-intuitive but it is well known that
scientists tend to work within a certain scientific ‘comfort
zone’ or paradigm. Currently animal tests are part of the
paradigm by which we test drugs, chemicals and ideas. A sea-
change in attitude both towards animals ethically and
scientifically needs to happen. A few things can help this
along: (A European pharmaceutical company initiative challenging
the regulatory requirement for acute toxicity studies in
pharmaceutical drug development. Regulatory Toxicology and
Pharmacology 2008; 50: 345-52 Committee on toxicity testing and
Assessment of environmental agents (2007) Toxicity Testing i