Thousands oppose dog breeding site plans

AN online petition against the expansion of facilities used for breeding beagles in East Yorkshire has over 26,000 names on it.

With just a day to go before it closes, the petition, sponsored by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection, is more than 10,000 over its original target.

US-based Marshall Farms was refused planning permission by the East Riding Council in June to double the size of a facility used previously for breeding beagles in Grimston, but the firm has now appealed against the decision.

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A final decision will be made by the Bristol-based Planning Inspectorate, following an exchange of written statements and a site visit by a Government inspector.

The application – which sparked thousands of objection from around the globe – was refused because of problems with access along a narrow country lane.

But the company is proposing altering the lay-by arrangements.

The latest Home Office figures on beagles used in research show that in 2010, 5,695 experiments were carried out on 3,704 beagles.

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BUAV Chief Executive, Michelle Thew, said: “The BUAV has so far received an incredible response to our petition.

“In view of the strength of public feeling against this proposal, the BUAV regrets that the appeal is not being conducted in public so that the objections could be heard directly.

“We remain hopeful that the appeal will respect the very strong concerns that so many people have over this proposal.”

Pro-testing organisations like Understanding Animal Research say dogs are still important in heart research and in the safety testing of new medicines.

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It says the discovery of insulin in dogs in the 1920s by Banting and Best is a “good example” of the contribution animal research makes to medical progress.

Both cats and dogs were important in the development of the heart-lung machine which made open-heart surgery possible.