Animal Testing: Parkinson's Charity Condemned For Funding 'Profoundly Disturbing' Experiments

British charity The Cure Parkinson's Trust has been condemned for funding "profoundly disturbing" experiments in which monkeys have their brains damaged to mimic symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

The suffering induced was said to be "severe" under the rating system used by the Home Office to assess animal tests.

In one case, the monkeys had already been subjected to similar tests in previous studies.

The research, published in 2011 and 2012, was conducted in Canada but was supported by the UK charity.

Both teams of scientists were testing ways to reduce the side effects of drug treatment for Parkinson's.

The experiments involved dosing marmoset monkeys with the toxic chemical MPTP to damage their brains and induce the symptoms.

High doses of the drug L-Dopa were then administered producing severe side effects including dyskinesia, or uncontrolled movement and psychosis.

The scientific papers about the experiments cite Cure Parkinson's Trust as a co-funder.

Andrew Tyler, director of the animal rights group Animal Aid, said: "It is clear that the vast majority of the British public do not want their money being used to fund profoundly disturbing experiments on animals of the sort co-funded by the Cure Parkinson's Trust.

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Animal Testing: Parkinson's Charity Condemned For Funding 'Profoundly Disturbing' Experiments