Massimo Tettamanti and Marian Berati, two Italian animal rights activists associated with Italian anti-research organization No Vivisezione, sent out an e-mail in September asking for help in shutting down Morini, an firm that breeds animals for medical research.
In August 2002, the Emilia-Romagna region in Italy passed a statute forbidding the breeding sale or use of dogs or cats for medical research purposes. The Italian Ministry of Health appealed to Italy’s Constitutional court arguing that the law should be voided since it conflicted with a national law that allows cats and dogs to be used for medical research.
The Constitutional Court struck down the Emilia-Romagna ban, agreeing with the Ministry of Health that regions could not enact anti-research bans that contradicted national laws.
According to the e-mail sent out by Tettamanti and Berati,
But at the moment the farm cannot sell dogs tot he laboratories, yet, because in order to have the necessary permission renewed, the Mayor of the town must give an explicit authorization.
The former Mayor was absolutely in favor of the Morini farm, but A FEW WEEKS AGO A NEW MAYOR HAS BEEN ELECTED! So it’s really important to make pressure on him to convince him to “reconvert” the farm to another activity.”
The e-mail goes on to urge activists to send e-mails to the Mayor and others to convince the new Mayor to continue to refuse to allow the farm to sell animals to research laboratories.
Source:
Please, help saving beagle dogs from vivisection! Press Release, No Vivisezione, September 16, 2004.