Rights group lauds India's ban on animal testing

New Delhi, April 20 (IANS) The Indian government's decision to stop experimentation on animals for training college and university students was Friday hailed by animal rights group Humane Society International.

"India's decision to shift its reliance from harmful and often unreliable animal models to robust non-animal approaches for biomedical research and education is a major step in the right direction and they are on a path to leadership in replacing animals in experiments," Andrew Rowan, president and CEO of Humane Society International, said in a statement.

In the guidelines, the Ministry of Environment and Forests has asked research and educational institutions to use training alternatives such as computer-aided simulators.

"Every year around the world, nearly 100 million animals are bred, injected, infected, cut open, genetically altered, force-fed drugs, chemicals and ultimately killed for scientific research, testing and education. Governments around the globe should follow India and carry out non-animal research and use alternatives such as computer-aided simulators for the purpose," Humane Society International's statement said.