EARA executive director, Kirk Leech, has urged caution about the ‘wishful thinking’ of animal groups that have called for the immediate phase-out of animal research.

In an interview for the award-winning ConsEUmer Podcast (after 10 minutes), hosted by the global consumer advocacy group Consumer Choice Center (CCC), Kirk spoke about the work of EARA and the importance of biomedical research to society.

Asked by Bill Wirtz, Senior Policy Analyst at CCC, about the idea of researchers being portrayed as ‘evil doctors’ for using animals in research, Kirk explained how the EU had the highest standards of animal welfare worldwide and that Directive 2010/63 on animal use has already embedded the concept of the eventual replacement of animals with alternatives.

“It’s wishful thinking at worst and naïve at best to believe that just around the corner we have all the alternatives to animal models, because they are just not there yet,” he said.