Today’s Sun had one of the best articles that I’ve ever seen on animal research and the impact it can have on a person’s life. (1).

The account from Laura Cowell, a 20-year old cystic fibrosis sufferer is poignant, and shows her gratitude for the work that developed her drugs, saving her life:

"I wish the medicines I need weren’t tested on animals – but without them I would have died a long time ago… I grew up with cats, dogs and rabbits and I even keep rats as pets.  I love animals – but I also want to live."

The well-written article concisely captured what it is like to suffer from cystic fibrosis, accurately detailing the symptoms, and the plethora of drugs needed for treatment:

without a cocktail of drugs – all of which have been tested on animals – Laura would not have survived her first birthday… She has to take 30 tablets every day… and uses a steroid inhaler to help her breathing.  All were developed using animal tests.  And all HAD to be tested on animals before being licensed for use in humans.

The Sun also got their facts right about licensing laws and the Home Office statistics.

If this wasn’t impressive enough, The Sun rose even further in my estimation by printing one of the very few accurate accounts of the Thalidomide tragedy ever to appear in the media – and described how the lack of testing then directly led to our current animal research laws.  (For info on the Thalidomide tradegy see GeorginaTheGiraffe’s blog)
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(1) The Sun, 18th May 2006, ‘I would have died without animal testing’, Ed. Jayne Symons p45.