A study by the European Animal Research Association (EARA), of websites of biomedical research bodies in Italy, assessing how they discuss research using animals, has found that the sector is still some way from an acceptable level of openness and transparency in animal research. EARA assessed a total of 64 institutional websites in Italy during 2018, both public and private bodies, such as universities and pharmaceutical companies, and a rating system was developed to analys

Every year the United Kingdom’s Home Office (the UK ministerial department of internal affairs) publishes its statistics on animals used in scientific procedures. The statistics are announced at a press briefing at which journalists can question the numbers of animals used and researchers place them in their scientific context. Now a yearly opportunity to openly discuss the need for animals in research, these press briefings were first organised as a counterweight to a negati

The European Commission has announced the start of an infringement procedure against Italy, whose animal research law it calls ‘too restrictive’. The Commission has sent a letter of formal notice to the Italian government, as the first step in the infringement procedure. Earlier this year, EARA’s partner organisation Research4Life asked the European Commission on behalf of 37 public and private Italian research institutions for the law to be reassessed. The infringement proce

Three Italian animal rights activists convicted of raiding the University of Milan animal labs have received a harsher sentence from the judge following their claim that they were acting on behalf of a ‘higher justice’ for animals. Judge Vincenzina Greco gave the trio an 18-month sentences for the raid in 2013 (also English translation). Commenting on the verdict, Giuliano Grignaschi, secretary-general of Research4Life, said: ‘Those who oppose research on animals don’t have t

Over 37 private and publicly funded Italian organisations, coordinated by EARA’s Italian partner Research4life, have addressed the European Commission in a letter last Friday requesting it to reassess the Italian law on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. The Italian legislative decree No. 26 of 4th March 2014 transposes to the Italian law the European Directive No. 63 of 22nd September 2010. The legislative decree 26/2014 introduced unprecedented provisio

On Tuesday, the Brescia Court of Appeals affirmed the initial ruling against three staff members of the Green Hill breeding facility in Italy. They were originally charged with cruelty to animals in their care, and with unjustifiably putting down some of the dogs, resulting in jail sentences between 12 and 18 months. The Court will release their motivation three months from now. Green Hill, a beagle breeding facility in the Lombardy region in Northern Italy, has been the vict

Riccardo Avvisati is a PhD student at Sapienza University of Rome, studying the influences of the environment on drug of abuse in a rodent model. He is currently a visiting research student at the University of Sussex. There is no doubt that animal rights organisations are gaining support and momentum from the public and policy makers in Italy. In recent days, we are seeing quite a big change as the government recently implemented the transposition of the European Directive 2

Dr. Alberto Ferrari is a member of the managing board and of the scientific Committee of Pro-Test Italia, an association dedicated to correct scientific information on the topic of animal research in Italy. He has a Ph.D. in molecular medicine; during his training he has worked on animal models of psychiatric disorders. Currently, he is specializing in biostatistics and collaborates with the unity of medical statistics at the University of Pavia, Italy. Animal experimentation

London, 25 March 2015 Green Hill facility in Montichiari (Italy) persecuted for breeding dogs for scientific research Case re-opened without new evidence despite not-guilty verdict in 2013 Italian legislators threaten biomedical progress in Europe by backing animal rights groups in a politically-motivated campaign against Green Hill In an appalling politically-motivated campaign, with collateral implications for the UK and the rest of Europe, an Italian judge announced yester