'New draft regulation allows experimentation on stray animals'

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The No to Experiments Association has launched a petition on change.org for changes to be made in the Animal Experiments Draft Regulation.

The draft regulation prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry does not ban experiments on animals on the streets and in shelters, said the association.

The new regulation reduces the power of the Animal Experiments Central Ethical Committee (HADMEK), the top body supervising and regulating animal experimentation, the association noted.

The HAYKURDER animal rights association first revealed the content of the draft regulations, which was neither confirmed nor denied by the ministry.

According to the draft regulation, the committee will no longer have representatives from the Turkish Veterinarians Association, the Turkish Medical Association and an animal rights organization. In the new structure, half of the committee will be ministry bureaucrats and the other half will be those who will carry out experiments on animals, who will also be chosen by the ministry.

"By reducing the power of HADMEK, local ethical committees are given more liberty. Our right to information is restricted by articles such as privacy," said the association.

Noting that about 270,000 animals are used in experiments in Turkey every year, it said regulations that further liberalize animal experimentation are unacceptable. (TP/VK)