Your painkiller will be tested on this face

My beagle Silly is not like other dogs She does not go berserk at the beach she does not play with the other dogs she keeps to herself and sniffs around sometimes rolls around in the sand When strangers coo over her mdash ldquoSo cute Can I pet herrdquo mdash she doesnrsquot run to them for pets she shrinks back The response is always a disappointed ldquoOh shersquos not at all like a beagle How come shersquos not excited to meet new people and dogsrdquoMy short answer is ldquoShersquos a rescue dog she was used in laboratory experimentsrdquoWhen she first came home to me from Freagles of India the NGO that rescued her everything terrified her Grass was scary because she had never stepped on it in the sterile lab The pressure cookerrsquos whistle would send her cowering under the sofa for a good 30 minutes To this day I trace a charblack scar on her back and wonder what happened there mdash did they remove an organ Did they induce a tumour and then remove it Did some experiment burn her flesh and fur offSilly was released from the laboratory in 2019 thanks to animal testing reforms in the country including the mandatory release of such dogs after three years Also among those reforms was a complete ban in 2014 of any animal testing for cosmetics as well as a ban on import of cosmetics tested on animals When these policy changes were made India was ahead of the curve with only Europe having a similar rule to ensure crueltyfree cosmetics experts tell usAnd yet India now seems poised to move in the opposite direction with the new draft Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Control and Supervision of Experiment Breeding and Trading of Laboratory Animals Rules 2026 There are fears among animal welfare activists that the draft Rules will make it easier to experiment on animals reducing government oversight on the approvals for testsldquoWhen Indiarsquos cosmetic testing reforms came in 201314 our nation was ahead of the times The government had also banned animal experimentation in undergraduate life science courses and it followed support from the Medical Council of India Pharmacy Council of India and UGC Coming from such a progressive nation these draft Rules are extremely regressive and will weaken existing safeguards to protect animalsrdquo says Alokparna Sengupta managing director of Humane World For Animals India Foundation HWAI which works with the government and the scientific industry to promote nonanimal methodologies and end animal experimentationSengupta has worked to bring about several policy changes in the animal testing field including the push to ban animal experimentation for cosmetics as well as pushing for 3Rs mdash replacement reduction and refinement mdash a set of principles aiming to minimise the use of vertebrate animals in pesticide testingFreagles or beagles freed from laboratories are often overwhelmed even months after their rescue Huddling together helps them regulate their nerves Piccourtesy Freagles of IndiaSengupta flags a key aspect of the proposed Rules which proposes that instead of mandatory approvals for any large animal experiment from the Committee for the Purpose of Control And Supervision of Experiments on Animals CCSEA which operates under the ambit of the Union Ministry for Animal Husbandry and Dairying each institution will now be able to seek a onestep approval for any ldquomildrdquo or moderaterdquo experiments on all animals from its inhouse Institutional Animal Ethics Committees IAEC instead And who decides if an experiment is mild moderate or severe And who decides if an experiment is mild moderate or severe Why the laboratory or institutionrsquos own staff and panelldquoIf independent oversight is reduced there will not only be rampant unchecked use of animals but also animal abuse Who will check if they are being kept in humane conditionsrdquo Sengupta questionsWhat worries activists is the ldquoarbitraryrdquo means for judging which experiments are to be approved by the central government committee and which can be approved inhouse The draft Rules suggest that this be judged on the basis of severity of pain and the expected harm the procedure could cause the animals But even inducement of tumours minor surgical procedures administering subtoxic and even toxic doses of chemotherapy and radiation are all listed as ldquomoderaterdquo experiments which would need no government approvalAlokparna Sengupta Dr NV Giridharan and Dr Rina DevNow this is proposed for larger animals such as cats dogs horsesSmaller animals face a future with even less protections ldquoShockingly smaller animals including rabbits could undergo severe or nonrecovery resulting in death experiments without CCSEA review simply because of their species mdash even though severe pain and suffering are no less serious in these animalsrdquo flags People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal India PETA IndiaThere are also concerns over the draft opening up the possibility of wild and feral animals as well as stray dogs and cats being picked up from their habitats and used in experiments in ldquoexceptionsrdquoldquoIndiarsquos forests must not become a source of animals for laboratories and our community dogs and cats must never be treated as disposable experimental subjectsrdquo says Dr Anjana Aggarwal scientist and research policy advisor at PETA India ldquoAt a time when scientists can study human organs on chips grow human tissues in laboratories and predict toxicity using sophisticated computer models India must move forward not backwards We urge the government to withdraw these draft rules rather than take animal protection back in timerdquoSengupta has also raised concerns about the vague definition for the ldquoestablishmentrdquo conducting the research ldquoThe term establishment has so far referred to a registered firm that is conducting the tests But in the draft law it could even mean any installation or building or mobile facilities Combine this with the clause that makes exception for wild animals and other animals to be sourced from open markets to be experimented and it raises strong concerns about encouraging wildlife trade and rampant crueltyrdquo she says She also questions why animals conservation has also been included in this when animal conservation efforts are governed by the Wild Life Protection Act 1972 ldquoThis could lead to clashes with the wildlife law and also open up the potential for experimentation on breeding in zoos and sanctuaries without the oversight of the Chief Wildlife Wardenrdquo says SenguptaSunday middayrsquos repeated attempts to reach the CCSEA for comment went unansweredThe draft Rules are currently open to public suggestions November 5 is the last date citizens can express their objectionsThe deadline has prompted this writer to look back on the six years since Silly became part of our family She remains diffident in certain settings mdash a crowded market the pet spa meeting new humans To the inexperienced eye this might make her less exciting than a shiny rowdy golden retriever But all I can see is the way she lights up at the beach how she would once shrink in fear but now feels no qualms in stretching to take up the entire sofa How she remembers and loves each of our friends demanding that they pet her nonstop And all I can think of is how she always deserved her time in the sun As do all animalsNov 5Last date to register public objections and suggestions for the draft Rules on animal testingWhat kind of experiments are doneThe experiments conducted on animals in research laboratories include drug toxicity tests in which new drugs are tested on animals to see if they are toxic or fatal inducement of tumours to then check the efficacy of surgical procedures or cancer drugs on those tumours The procedures also include surgical procedures such as removal of organs testing toxicity of chemical products such as fertilizers The draft Rules also list electric shocks and toxicity tests in which death is an endpoint as ldquosevererdquo experimentsFreagles From labs to lapsChinthana Gopinath with Sasha the original FreagleThis writerrsquos dog Silly was adopted from the Freagles Of India FOI a Trust that rehabilitates beagles that are retired from laboratories freed beagles or Freagles Founder Chinthana Gopinath tells us the inspiration was her own beagle Sasha whom she met while volunteering at an organisation in 2012 ldquoSasha was this little dog extremely shy and timid The paperwork at that time such details are no longer released showed that Sasha had undergone drug toxicity tests mdash likely one of the harshest forms of testing It was a miracle that she even made it out aliverdquo she recalls ldquoFor whatever reason she crawled onto my lap and sat down I knew I had to bring her home Then I found out she had been debarked a surgical procedure only performed prior to 2016 to prevent dogs from barking It filled me with a quiet anger that animals are being put through something like thisrdquo That anger led to the formation of FOI in 2017 To date they have sent 600 laboratoryrescued beagles home But these are still the lucky ones ldquoSome laboratories decide to rehabilitate the dogs themselves but there is no transparency on their processesrdquo she saysLaboratories have been known to overcrowd animals in cages PicSpecial ArrangementWhere can you register your objectionEmail CCSEA directly cpcseamefgovinSend an automated email via PETA httpstinyurlcomPETAlinkFreagles Of India petition httpstinyurlcomFreaglesOfIndiapetitionlsquoTherersquos a lot of money in thisrsquoDr NV Giridhan retired head of the National Centre for Laboratory Animal Sciences says India ought to invest in nonanimal testingLaboratoryrescue Silly the beagle in the foreground loves walks with her sibling Luna the labrador PicSatej Shinde From a dog constantly cowering in terror of all the sights sounds smells of the world now her favourite things in the world are frolicking on the beach left and hoodwinking her family into giving her extra treatsDr NV Giridharan is a specialist with 38 years of experience in laboratory animal sciences before his retirement as the head of the National Centre for Laboratory Animal Sciences under the Indian Council of Research Dr Giridharan ventures that the draft Rules will give more breathing room to scientists ldquoThe draft Rules could allow all animal research both preclinical and basic up to monkeys without being referred to the Centre with the control resting solely with the inhouse institutional animal ethical committee It will present more freedom to scientists who will have less red tape to deal withrdquoThe inhouse panel has enough checks and balances he says ldquoThe institutional committee always has two CCSEAnominated members from outside the institute So there is still some oversight on experimentsrdquoHe doesnrsquot deny the potential for abuse though ldquoCommercial interests can sometimes overpower good intentionsrdquo he says while recalling a few horrors he had encountered while inspecting some facilities in the past ldquoI was at a Pune facility once during a raid and we saw monkeys kept in very bad conditions There was overcrowding and the monkeys were also not given the opportunity for regular exercise and socialisation which is an essential need for primates That institutersquos licence was cancelled and later restored only after the facility met the prescribed requirements for monkeys in captivityrdquo he saysBut with the draft Rules suggesting reduced government oversight on approvals how will there be accountability for similar abuse ldquoThe onusrdquo he says ldquowill now be on the scientists If they are caught breaching norms they should be penalisedrdquoOn the clause allowing wild animals to be used in some cases Dr Giridharan cites the example of primates especially rhesus macaques ldquoThey are resistant to most diseases and highly sought after for preclinical testing of drugs as well as cosmetics abroad There arenrsquot many facilities that breed primates which is why the government might allow wild animals to be used in certain casesrdquo he says ldquoHowever there is a potential that this relief could be misusedrdquo he adds ldquoAnyway rhesus monkeys are being smuggled from India to other countries for researchrdquoAfter three decades of refining animal laboratory research Dr Giridharan believes science is now poised to replace animal testing with alternative methods in most research ldquoWe now have tissue cultures grown in the lab organ on chip computer modelling mdash if we invest in such technology we can reduce animal testing to just 10 per centrdquo he says ldquoWe should aim for a system where alternative methods are used for most experiments except for fundamental research such as studies on how cancer functions how a drug is to be administered to minimise toxic effects For example the thalidomide tragedy the drug caused birth defects could have been prevented if the drug had been tested on pregnant animalsrdquoldquoI have already written to the Centre requesting that it should not allow new animal facilities to come up as the existing ones can be shared with those who want to use them with minimal chargesrdquo he says But he adds ldquoThere is a lot of money and vested interest in thisrdquolsquoItrsquos just bad sciencersquoDr Rina Dev a wildlife veterinarian and former animal laboratory inspector says there is no way to ensure a clean medical history for wild animals used in testingA trial drug being administered to a rabbit to check for toxicity PicSpecial ArrangementDr Rina Dev a wellknown wildlife veterinary surgeon in Bandra was once a laboratory inspector for the CCSEA then known as CPCSEA She recalls inspecting labs where rats were kept in terrible conditions such as overcrowded cagesldquoWhen you keep animals in such stressful conditions their baseline mdash initial health data before the experiment mdash is automatically affected Any data collected from testing in such conditions will be questionable because how much of the impact is from the drug or chemical you are testing and how much is from the stressrdquo she points outEven worse is using wildand feral animals for testing ldquoItrsquos just bad sciencerdquo she says ldquothe standard practice has always been to get the animals at a young age or from a recognised breeder so the lab has their medical history How will you get this information for wild animals For example how will you know whether it is the chemical thatrsquos giving them cancer or whether itrsquos in their genesrdquo