MADAM – In response to Isobel Hutchinson’s letter regarding the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and animal testing published on the SNJ website. It is full of inaccuracies, and very misleading, as the government guidelines state if there is an alternative to animals it has to be used.

While it is true no medicine can be approved for human use, before it has been tested on animals – and then been subject to human trials – it is worth pointing out that the BHF does not make the rules, that is the Government.

The BHF has saved many lives over the years and given hope to many people.

Without the BHF funding research, heart failure treatments would not be as successful as they are. Maybe the lady in question might like to offer herself for the human element of trials. There are many people in the Stroud area that have died from heart failure and many more that are under the care of cardiologists.

The BHF, like myself and many others, would like to see more cures and treatments developed and will do whatever it takes for that to happen – should that be donating to the BHF or taking part in the human element of a trial for a new drug or device.

Jayne Knowles Smith

Painswick