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About Us We are a new group of Oxford University members established to oppose the University’s construction of a new animal research laboratory, and to campaign instead for a more ethically responsible approach to biomedical research at Oxford. Our membership comprises past graduates in a broad range of disciplines from Classics to Experimental Psychology, as well as current fellows, lecturers and other employees and academics with links to the University. We are emphatically in favour of medical progress, but believe that the ethical principles underpinning it should be agreed by society as a whole based on an open and informed public debate. Why A New Group? We are concerned that efforts to further the cause of humane alternatives have been undermined by an unhelpful polarisation of the issue of animal research, to the exclusion of any objective discussion of the real issues. We feel it is time to call a halt to this confrontational approach. Instead, we advocate working together to replace the old-established animal model – whether maintained by the power of vested interests or institutional inertia - with humane alternatives that are appropriate to a more ethically aware and scientifically advanced age. An important step in this process is to persuade our own University – as one of the leading academic institutions of this country - to abandon its current plans for yet more animal research in favour of becoming a centre of excellence for humane research. Mission Statement As members of Oxford University, we are strongly opposed to the University's construction of a new animal research laboratory on both moral and scientific grounds. Such research can subject animals to considerable pain, stress and lasting harm. Equally, a growing body of evidence demonstrates that animals are neither safe nor suitable models for studying human diseases. Given the increasing availability of more sophisticated modern alternatives, we call on
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