YOU recently published a letter from Dr Elisabeth Harley from an organisation called ‘Understanding Animal Research’. This group exists to try to defend the use of animals in experiments and includes such discredited people as Colin Blakemore and Tip Aziz.

Dr Harley tries to justify the deaths of millions of animals in horrific, cruel, unnecessary experiments by saying the majority are only mice, rats, fish and birds. I don’t know who gave her the right to play God but this is typical of the mindset of these people that seem stuck in the past and refuse to look at all the alternatives to animal testing.

In fact they are delaying the advance of medicine. Safe 21st century technology and human studies give reliable results for humans without the use of animals.

The numbers of animals used in experiments does not include those that die on their way to the laboratories, those that die routinely through negligence and cruelty and those that are killed surplus to requirements. Altogether a disgusting and evil regime.

At the end of the day, when a new medicine or drug evolves despite being delayed by animal testing it often turns out to be too expensive to benefit mere mortals like ourselves, but the pharmaceutical companies carry on making huge profits. What an awful world.

Philip Beaven, Merton Avenue, Swindon