Reasonable requests

We at the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection were disappointed to be so terribly misrepresented in your article "Primate research 'hit list' sparks fear of attacks" (November 9).

It is clear that those who seek to discredit us have sunk to a new low to try to prevent a reasoned, evidenced-based debate in the UK. The BUAV makes no apology for using legal means to seek information in the public interest from public bodies.

The public has a right to know what happens to animals that get experimented on in our laboratories - especially when those painful tests are funded out of their pockets.

Thousands of ordinary people donate their hard-earned money to the BUAV because they want us to expose the suffering and to educate the wider public about how their taxes are being used. They know that the BUAV consistently and robustly condemns the use of violence and intimidation under any circumstances, and also takes proactive steps to challenge such tactics, such as the recent Labour Party conference debate it organised on tackling extremism.

Alistair Currie
Campaigns director, British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection