The Eu
ropean Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE) held its Annual General Meeting and conference in Warsaw, Poland earlier this month. For the first time International Animal Rescue Malta was invited to attend the meeting together with members from 23 different countries. Also present from International Animal Rescue was Geoffrey Deckers who operates from Holland and is already part of the executive Council of ECEAE.
On the second day of the conference, after a series of presentations, questions and general discussion, it was agreed that applicants Malta, Poland and Macedonia should all be accepted into the coalition.
The ECEAE and BUAV (British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection) are currently running a campaign called No Cruel Cosmetics. The EU was due to ban all animal testing from taking place outside Europe for new cosmetics sold in the EU from 2013 onwards. However the European Commission is currently considering whether to recommend a delay of up to 10 years to this deadline. This could mean tens of thousands of rabbits, guinea pigs, mice and rats being used for tests on cosmetics that are sold in the EU. International Animal Rescue is working hard to prevent this from happening and is asking everyone to sign and promote the petition. The online petition is available in a wide range of languages.