For a telethon that turns towards the future
For more than 30 years, the Telethon has been funding the suffering of dogs. One Voice asks to redirect research towards alternative methods other than animal experimentation.
The 32nd edition of the Telethon will be held on December 7th and 8th. Since its creation in 1987, this event has raised more than two billion euros. A colossal sum to help and cure patients with “innovative” therapies. One Voice is calling on researchers to develop alternative methods to that of dog experiments and to make the Telethon the spearhead of a science that is reinventing itself.
Extreme media cover and praiseworthy reviews, the Telethon annually raises an immense surge of solidarity around rare genetic diseases to offer support and hope to those who suffer from it. The millions of euros collected during each edition are used to feed the resources of the French Association against Myopathies (AFM) which pursues a triple mission:
- Healing (research and development of innovative therapies),
- Help the sick (care, support, citizenship),
- Communicate knowledge to families, professionals and the general public.
Animal experimentation
Since 1987, this unifying event has raised more than two billion euros and subsidized a lot of research in the field of biotherapies. But there is a but “. During all these years, a large part of the sums allocated has also caused a lot of suffering by including the deliberate birth of puppies with illnesses. Placed into isolation in a completely sanitized space in the laboratories, victims of the degeneration inflicted upon their bodies, most of them underwent repeated experiments before dying, eventually carried away by their pathologies or to be put down.
Promote alternative methods
Can we consider that the few advances in research are sufficient to endorse this? For One Voice, the answer is obviously no! Let’s not forget that effective therapies for dogs must still prove to be conclusive and safe for humans! So why “tinker” with an experimentation model based on a species that is completely different from us, rather than resolutely engaging in a modern, ethical and reliable science? Can we not develop an experimentation model that is directly transposable to that of a human? Alternative methods just need to be developed. The scientists who are interested in it are very confident in the possibilities they offer.
Capitalizing on these advanced techniques would bring much safer answers in research to help the sick. It is on these new techniques that the funds of the next Telethon should be invested. Real medical advances would then be possible, and this time without torture or sacrifice. It is here that we must focus, it is in this approach that lies the real solution to heal these atrocious diseases and not to suffer any longer, nobody.