SHEILA Brennan's opposition to animal experimentation (Letters, October 18) is a little hypocritical as she herself, like everyone else, has benefited from treatments which would not have been achieved without animal studies.

Perhaps it is worth her and anyone else who has any sympathy for the animal rights activists learning to practise what they preach first.

A survey of doctors, conducted by the British Medical Association, showed overwhelming support for continued animal research.

More than 94 per cent of the doctors agreed with the statement that animal experiments have made an important contribution to many advances in medicine. At the end of August, 1990, the British Association for the Advancement of Science made a public declaration in support of animal research which was later signed by over 900 eminent scientists and doctors, including 31 Nobel Prize winners.

The concept of animal rights has little to do with animal welfare as it is the belief that an animal has the exact same rights as humans. A leading activist goes as far as saying that "a pig is a dog, is a rat, is a boy." It's an extremism., thereby putting human lives on the line and denying the seriously ill their right to hope for a successful treatment.

Seriously Ill For Medical Research (SIMR) is a voluntary organisation founded to provide the patients' voice in this debate. For further information please write to SIMR, PO Box 504, Dunstable, Bedfordshire LU6 2LU.f=Zurich Bd BTTOM BROMLEY, (full address received)

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