Macca in anti-vivisection campaign

The former Beatle said animal testing was "a holdover from the dark age of medical science".More modern methods are available but many scientists are too unenlightened to use them, he said. Sir Paul has joined forces with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) to spearhead an anti-vivisection campaign.And he urged the public to donate their money to health charities which did not test on animals.Peta has blacklisted charities including the British Heart Foundation, the Cancer Research Campaign and the Royal National Institute for the Blind."Sometimes people place too much faith in people in white lab coats and assume that there`s a need for animal testing just because it has been going on for so long," he said."I believe this to be a holdover from the dark age of medical science, and more enlightened scientists nowadays believe they can get more reliable results with more modern methods."Vivisection has long been presented as a solution to health problems, but trying to mimic human diseases in animals is a costly, cruel diversion."If the amount of money poured into animal experimentation was spent instead on prevention, we`d have much better results to show."In the interview, which appears on the Peta website, Sir Paul urged the British Government to explore alternative means of testing."I wish that governments would step into the 21st century and recognise that animal tests are unreliable and cruel," he said."I call upon governments to validate the more modern non-animal tests and move away from torturing our fellow creatures."Sir Paul has been a long-time opponent of animal testing.In 2000 he donated £625,000 to the Arizona Cancer Centre, the US clinic where his late wife Linda was treated, on the proviso that none of the money be used for animal testing.He has continued to campaign for animals with second wife Heather.Last month they travelled to Canada to protest against the country`s annual seal cull.Next month Heather will give a speech to the Vegetarian and Vegan Foundation to back claims that drinking cow`s milk may cause breast cancer.
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