Probe into Vivisection Promised. (23 November, 1996)

Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Derek Hanekom has undertaken to create a forum to look into the use of animals in research. This was the word from Barbara Nash of the SPCA, after the organisation and two other animal rights groups had presented him with a petition in Pretoria yesterday, requesting stricter control of and accountability for the use of animals for research and testing.

'National Council member Marcelle French was well received by the Minister, who was overwhelmed by Zinzi who handed the petition to him,' she said. Zinzi is a young baboon currently being cared for by an animal lover with a view of rehabilitation in the wild. 'Mr Hanekom was so taken by the young baboon he wanted to take it home,' Mrs Nash said. Falcon (Front for Animal Liberation and Conservation of Nature) and the South African Association Against Painful Experiments on Animals co-operated with the National Council of SPCAs in collecting signatures for the petition - which numbered several thousand.

'The objectives of the petition are to ascertain the extent of animal research and testing in South Africa, the necessity for such procedures, to ascertain the extent of animal suffering and contraventions in terms of the Animals Protection Act and to implement an infrastructure to regulate, control and monitor animal-based research and associated issues,' Mrs French said. Staff reporter. Courtesy of the Pretoria News.