‘Is it the end of an era?’ asks an article from this week’s Economist, pointing out that campaigners for animal rights are losing their long war against scientific experimentation on animals.

Well not for one person. More like deja-vu. We reported back in April on the surprise departure of the Chief Executive of the largest antivivisection group in the UK - the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV). Now the BUAV has made the even more surprising announcement that they are re-appointing their former Chief Executive, Michelle Thew, back to the same position.

It’s an interesting decision because Michelle is certainly articulate. She was one of the few antivivisectionists in the UK who could cobble together an argument against the use of animals in research that started to sound faintly plausible, even though it was based on the usual deception and misinformation about the medical benefits of such research. But perhaps it also indicates that there is little new blood coming through the antivivisection movement, which is so discredited that it is unlikely to attract people of any significant calibre.

Michelle presided over the early days of the declining influence of the antivivisectionists. But since she left for sunnier climes, things have only deteriorated further. This is recognised by the BUAV in their press release, which explains how the organisation must address the ‘increasingly pro-animal experimentation political environment’.

So welcome back Michelle. We hope you enjoyed the Economist article! And we are glad to see that the BUAV can at last find something to get excited about again. We doubt it will be for long.