Iranian Space Agency’s Plans To Send A Persian Cat Into Space Denounced By National Anti-Vivisection Society
11 years ago
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16th September, 2013 21h16
The National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) has expressed outrage at the news that the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) is considering sending more animals into space, which could include a Persian cat, mouse and rabbit, following a monkey sent by the agency earlier this year.
NAVS Chief Executive Jan Creamer: “Sending animals into space is scientifically pointless and extremely cruel. Animals suffer terribly in isolated and cramped conditions; many don’t make it back alive. Further, results from animal space missions are potentially hazardous when applied to humans. I implore the Iranian Space Agency to see sense and drop this ridiculous plan.”
The ISA has previously claimed that it is sending animals in the hope of launching a man into space before 2018. However, using animals in space research is a retrograde step. The ISA is at odds with the European Space Agency which has distanced itself from the use of primates. In 2010, NASA also abandoned plans to carry out radiation experiments on squirrel monkeys. World record setting Soviet cosmonaut Valentin Lebedev, who set a world record for time in space has stated, “The existing knowledge received from past experience of long time space flights is quite enough right now to predict their influence on people”.
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