Air Souffrance - KLM

Verklaring Air France-KLM:

Regarding the transport of live animals, Air France scrupulously respects and complies with standards issued by

• – the International Air Transport Association (IATA), adopted by the European Union, 
• – the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
• – the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)

Air France also strictly complies with the Washington Convention concerning protected animal and plant species, whose transport must systematically be for identified scientific reasons and which is regulated on an international scale. 

If nothing authorizes an airline from ruling on the merits of using animals in biomedical research, although it is established collectively across Europe, then nothing authorizes it from refusing this type of transport in a perfectly legal way, with particular caution on the part of all those involved. 

The European Directive 86/609 from 8 September 2010 states that "the use of live animals remains necessary to protect human and animal health and the environment."

In particular, "the use of nonhuman primates in scientific procedures is necessary for biomedical research”.

Antwoord

Friday, 25 March, 2011

The campaign has been in communication with a number of representatives from Air France-KLM and what is clear is that opinion is divided on the transportation of laboratory animals within the company.

It seems that not everyone wants to participate in the brutal vivisection industry, but Air France-KLM have finally clarified their position in a press statement on their corporate website where they attempt to justify the transport of laboratory animals and suggest they have no choice.

They state in their defence that "The European Directive 86/609 from 8 September 2010 states that 'the use of live animals remains necessary to protect human and animal health and the environment.'" but they seem to have ignored that the public response to the consultation was one of the highest ever seen for a European law and that a massive 80% of respondents stated that experiments on non-human primates were unacceptable, even for the benefit of human health!

We believe that the directors of Air France-KLM have severely under-estimated the weight of public opinion on the subject of animal experimentation and the strength of the activist groups around the world who actively oppose vivisection. They can expect protests across the globe and their corporate image will become associated with tortured animals until they renounce their support for animal experimentation.

Many airlines have rejected the cruel trade in laboratory animals, including two companies who have changed their policies in the last year following pressure from this activist network, we must now show Air France-KLM the negative effect of being associated with the vivisection industry and the reason why so many other airlines refuse to transport laboratory animals.

However, it is now clear that the Air France-KLM group has no intention of changing their company policy, and so we feel we have no other option than to call upon all the people who oppose vivisection to make their feelings known to the Air France-KLM group and their supporters in the hope that they will see reason and disassociate themselves from this evil business!

Write a letter: http://www.airsouffrance.fr/en/air-france/20110324_mailing.html