"Forced Drug Injection Despite Struggling"... Is There No Way to Stop Animal Testing? [Hello? Animal]

US Animal Protection Group Exposes Animal Testing Sites of Bio Companies
China Faces Experimental Monkey Hoarding Amid New Drug Boom
Over 4 Million Lab Animals Used Annually in Korea
Experts Urge Expansion of Alternative Testing Methods

In the experimental process using animals, cruel methods were employed, leading to public criticism over animal rights violations.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Wooseok] "Forced drug administration during hoarding..." Controversies over animal abuse in laboratory animals are spreading amid the competition among bio companies to develop new drugs.

According to foreign media reports including the British daily Daily Mail on the 15th (local time), the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), an American animal protection organization, recently revealed the conditions of animal experiments at the Indiana laboratory of the American bio company Inotiv. HSUS sent undercover investigators to this laboratory, who participated directly in over 70 studies over seven months and filmed the scenes they witnessed.

According to the report, HSUS witnessed employees forcibly inserting tubes into the throats of animals to inject chemicals during the new drug development experiments. In some cases, drug administration was not stopped even though the animals showed symptoms such as vomiting, high fever, and difficulty breathing.

The investigators also filmed animals trapped in metal cages crying or staggering. HSUS revealed, "Veterinarians did not treat dogs and monkeys crying out in pain but instead told employees, 'You need to give the animals the drugs again.'"

Kitty Block, CEO of HSUS, urged, "We hope the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the pharmaceutical industry replace animal testing with superior technologies rather than exploiting animal suffering."

Monkeys gathered in a group. *Not related to the main content

As competition for new drug development makes it difficult to obtain laboratory animals, cases of hoarding have also emerged. According to recent Chinese media reports, a new drug development company purchased about 20,000 laboratory monkeys at once. It is known that this company secured monkeys by acquiring a laboratory animal supply company.

The direct acquisition of the supplier by this company is said to be due to soaring prices of laboratory monkeys. Media reports explain that due to competition among companies, the price of laboratory monkeys has surged 23 times over the past eight years.

Controversies surrounding animal experiments are similar in South Korea. According to the Animal Experiment Ethics Committee of the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, about 4.14 million animals were used for experiments domestically in 2020.

A significant number of animals suffering pain during experiments is also pointed out as a problem. The Ethics Committee classifies the intensity of pain and stress in laboratory animals into pain grades from A to E, and it is understood that about 3.066 million animals, accounting for 74% of the total, fall into grades D and E. The closer to grade E, the stronger the intensity of pain.

As these conditions became known, voices calling for an end to laboratory animal abuse are increasing. University student A said, "For the past year, I have been purchasing products like cosmetics only from places that do not conduct animal testing," adding, "I hope citizens will participate in reducing animal sacrifices."

Meanwhile, according to a recent report titled "Survey on Awareness of Animal Welfare Policies and Systems" published by the Seoul National University research group 'Human-Animal Network,' about 9 out of 10 respondents answered that the level of animal welfare in South Korea "should be better than it is now." Regarding actions taken to improve animal welfare (multiple responses allowed), 59.9% answered that they "refused to purchase products involving animal abuse."

Related organizations also say that laws to reduce animal abuse are insufficient. Although the amendment to the Animal Protection Act passed the National Assembly plenary session in April, regarding laboratory animals, it only includes provisions such as assigning a full-time veterinarian responsible for promoting the health and welfare of laboratory animals in institutions conducting animal experiments above a certain scale.

Lee Wonbok, president of the Korea Animal Protection Alliance, said, "In South Korea, the environment is poor to the extent that high-grade experiments causing severe pain account for 80% of all experiments," adding, "Going forward, we need to increase more scientific and ethical alternative testing methods, establish thorough experimental principles, and reduce unethical experiments."