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Exposing the real terrorists with Wickham Mouse. In December 2003, animal rescue workers broke into Wickham Laboratories in Hampshire after they received a tip-off from an insider that illegal cosmetic experiments were being carried out on thousands of animals. The rescue workers entered the lab and shortly found what they were looking for, and left with a mass of paperwork detailing horrific experiments.

They also took 700 mice who were just weeks old and waiting to start experimentation the next day. The evidence was sent to animal rights groups across the country and unfortunately the police found all but 37 mice who had arrived at their new homes. The police returned the mice to Wickham who used them in further experiments.

We have read through the paperwork ourselves and can bring you the shocking truth. People claiming to be ‘scientists’ are working in Wickham Labs and killing around 600 animals each day just for Botox. They are using the notorious LD50 test where half of the animals used in a batch are poisoned to death with increasing doses of a toxin. This test was partially banned in 1999 when the Government recognised its severity. The surviving half from the test are then killed by gassing or cervical dislocation.

Botox is derived from Botulinum which is the most poisonous toxin known in science. This is the product that Wickham is testing for Ipsen Biopharm who have publicly accepted and given a statement to the media confessing that a percentage of the product is being sold on for cosmetic purposes; despite it breaching the licence. Wickham continue to deny they are carrying out these cosmetics tests and in court denied that Botox was even used in this country as a cosmetic.

The Government claim that Botox is licensed in the UK as a prescription only medicine and if the products are being used for cosmetic purposes they are being used outside the terms of the product licence. It is perfectly clear that Botox is being used for cosmetic purposes, as you can have this treatment done in many beauty parlors and the manufacturers Ipsen Biopharm admit it themselves!

What makes these Botox experiments even more inexcusable is that a non-animal alternative exists and is in use at a government appointed laboratory (The National Institute for Biological Standards and Control). This test is called the SNAP-25, and is saving the lives of thousands of mice each year.

Despite this evidence the Home Office continues to grant licences for animal testing of this product to many companies including Dysport, Ipsen Biopharm and Allergan. This is an outrage because firstly, an animal-free alternative exists and is in place and secondly that there is a ban on cosmetics tests in the UK. This is most definitely an infringement of the law.

One of the animal rescue workers who exposed this horror to the nation was arrested and sentenced to a year in prison. He's been branded as a terrorist and yet Wickham workers continue to kill countless thousands of animals every week in an experiment they know should be carried out using a non-animal method. They have been branded as life savers for carrying out necessary research.

You have to ask yourself, who are the real terrorists?

What can you do?

SARC is campaigning to end these horrific Botox experiments and you can help.

So far we have collected over 15,000 signatures from the public urging the Government and Home Office to stop granting licences for this experiment. We still need thousands more, so if you think you can help us collect more signatures, either download some petitions to print off at home or order some from us and we'll send you some!

You can also write a letter to the Minister responsible for animal experiments, Andy Burnham MP at: 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF.

POINTS TO INCLUDE:

* Testing Botox is a breach of the cosmetics testing ban and the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

* The partially banned LD50 test is being needlessly carried out where the SNAP-25 test should be used in its place.

* The National Institute for Biological Standards and Control is using the SNAP-25 to test the safety and potency of Botulinum Toxin (Botox).

* Ask why the SNAP-25 is good enough for a Government appointed lab but not good enough for the pharmaceutical industry.

If you know anyone who has botox injenctions to keep their wrinkles at bay, why not let them know about the truth about this cruel product!