Constant illegalities and lack of sanctions at Institut Pasteur
It took a two-year battle to obtain the inspection reports for six Parisian establishments. Although none of them are exemplary, those concerning the Institut Pasteur leave us speechless… Between confinement in overcrowded cages and brutal killings, One Voice reveals the daily life of animals destined to be experimented on.
Illustration of a mouse in a laboratory 2007
Profitability at all costs
In the laboratories of the Institut Pasteur, animal welfare is sacrificed on the altar of productivity. Five quails are crammed into a cage measuring just 50 cm², and up to 25 are squeezed into a 1.5 m² space, even though standards prohibit putting more than five quails there. These birds, reduced to numbers, survive in unbearably overcrowded spaces, exposed to aggressive males, without any stimulation or comfort. The standards supposed to protect these animals ? Forgotten.
In order to pull the wool over one’s eyes, a veterinary surgeon is appointed to be “in charge of animal welfare”. However, rather than seriously train their employees in the principles of the 3Rs (Reduce, Replace, Refine the use of animals), these establishments prefer to falsify appearances. They record unrelated training courses as if they contributed to animal welfare, turning a legal obligation into a mere exercise in deceptive bureaucracy.
Macabre killings
At the time of the inspector’s visit, a researcher was “euthanizing” mice by breaking their necks against the grid of their cages. So we can legitimately wonder what happens outside inspection days…
Mice are the first victims of animal testing. When they are not immediately killed as part of the protocols, they are subjected to cruel experiments. In Paris laboratories, some are kept alone in cages devoid of any form of enrichment. However, internationally renowned scientists such as those at the Institut Pasteur should know that mice are social animals, made to live in groups. And when experiments come to a halt, researchers desert them : every weekend, every holiday, the animals are left unattended, left to their own devices.
Write to Institut Pasteur !
Despite repeated disastrous inspection reports and a temporary suspension of Institut Pasteur’s accreditation, the center continues to carry out controversial experiments on the animals under its responsibility every day.
If, like three quarters of French people, you are in favor of replacing animal experimentation (One Voice/Ipsos April 2023) with alternative methods, write to Institut Pasteur !
This French flagship has a duty to be at the forefront of the moral and scientific developments so eagerly awaited by society.