07-10-2021, 07:52 PM
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01896-x
Australia’s biggest supplier of mice and rats for research announced last week that it plans to shut down operations over the next 18 months — a decision that scientists say could have a devastating impact on biomedical research in the country.
The imminent closure of the Animal Resources Centre (ARC) “obviously is going to leave a huge gap in the supply of animals to many universities and medical-research institutes”, says Malcolm France, a Sydney-based veterinary consultant and former president of the Australian and New Zealand Laboratory Animal Association.
The ARC is a breeding facility in Perth, Western Australia, with an annual revenue of around Aus$8 million (US$5.9 million) and around 60 staff members. In 2020, it sold 199,258 rats and mice. The vast majority went to Australian clients, but it also exports animals to nations including New Zealand, Indonesia and South Korea.
Wow, that is certainly going to have a major impact, given the number of Australian universities and medical institutes that rely on this supplier .
Of course, I don't like animal testing, and I do hope at least some of their customers will seek alternatives to it (rather than simply getting animals from another supplier) - but, at only 18 months' notice, I don't know whether that will even be possible ...
Australia’s biggest supplier of mice and rats for research announced last week that it plans to shut down operations over the next 18 months — a decision that scientists say could have a devastating impact on biomedical research in the country.
The imminent closure of the Animal Resources Centre (ARC) “obviously is going to leave a huge gap in the supply of animals to many universities and medical-research institutes”, says Malcolm France, a Sydney-based veterinary consultant and former president of the Australian and New Zealand Laboratory Animal Association.
The ARC is a breeding facility in Perth, Western Australia, with an annual revenue of around Aus$8 million (US$5.9 million) and around 60 staff members. In 2020, it sold 199,258 rats and mice. The vast majority went to Australian clients, but it also exports animals to nations including New Zealand, Indonesia and South Korea.
Wow, that is certainly going to have a major impact, given the number of Australian universities and medical institutes that rely on this supplier .
Of course, I don't like animal testing, and I do hope at least some of their customers will seek alternatives to it (rather than simply getting animals from another supplier) - but, at only 18 months' notice, I don't know whether that will even be possible ...
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