Sonny: ‘What’s the Buddhists’ view about animal rights?’

Raz: ‘Ah. They say that no living thing should be harmed, if you can help it. We all breathe the same air don’t we? Animals and humans. Every breath is precious. Breathing’s very important to Buddhists.’

Sonny: ‘It’s very important to me!’

This conversation takes place between two characters in Every Breath, the award-winning play opening up the debate about animal research, devised in partnership between AMRC and Y Touring, the theatre company of the YMCA.

Like 5.2 million people in the UK, and like three children in every classroom, Sonny has asthma. This is just one of about 40 kinds of lung disease. Others include tuberculosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis, lung cancer, sleep apnoea and pneumonia. Together, they are the leading cause of death worldwide and the most common cause of longterm illness among children.