MPs support phase-out of animal testing in Great Britain
On World Day for Animals in Laboratories, MPs can help save millions of animals from suffering and dying
Animal protection organisation Cruelty Free International is asking supporters to call on the British government to listen to the public’s priorities for the phase-out of animal testing – on the day dedicated to ending the suffering of millions of animals used in scientific experiments around the world.
A cross-party group of MPs, including Environment Secretary Steve Reed, wore pink badges during yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Questions in support of Cruelty Free International and in recognition of World Day for Animals in Laboratories.
The British government has committed to the phase-out of animal testing and has promised to publish a strategy aimed at progressing this objective later this year. However, it is yet to make details or concrete timings of its plans public. Now, Cruelty Free International want supporters to contact their MP to ask them to write to the Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation, Lord Patrick Vallance, to ensure those plans are as ambitious as possible.
There were over 2.68 million uses of animals in laboratories in Great Britain in 2023. That’s over 7,340 every day and over 300 every hour.
Cruelty Free International estimates that at least 192.1 million animals were used for scientific purposes worldwide in 2015. This is the world’s most reliable figure to date. This includes nearly 80 million experiments on animals, as well as millions of other animals who are killed for their tissues, used to breed genetically modified animals, or are bred but not used in tests. As of 2015, the top 10 users of animals in the world were estimated to be: China (20.5 million), U.S.A. (15.6m), Japan (15m), Canada (3.6m), Australia (3.2m), South Korea (3.1m), United Kingdom (2.6m), Brazil (2.2m), Germany (2m), France (1.9m).
Yet biological differences between humans and animals – which make chocolate and grapes poisonous to dogs, and allow macaques to handle doses of paracetamol that would be deadly to people – mean that data from animal tests cannot be a reliable basis for predicting reactions in humans.
Animal experiments have been heavily relied on for drug development for decades, but many debilitating and life-threatening diseases still lack effective treatments. Despite the use of animal experiments in medical research, 92% of candidate drugs fail in clinical trials, due to them being harmful to humans or simply not doing what they are designed to do, despite having passed extensive investigations in animals.
Animal testing is also involved in the manufacture of almost every consumer product, from cosmetics and household products to clothes, furniture, plastics, electronic and white goods, paints, dyes, and ingredients in our food. The development of just one new ingredient for a cosmetics product could involve the death of at least 1,200 animals.
Animal tests can involve the force-feeding of potentially harmful substances, using the same controversial method, gavage, as used in the manufacture of foie gras; the inhalation of toxic gases; the removal of organs or tissues to deliberately cause damage; and even the killing of animals to determine their tolerance of a substance. Other animals are killed after an experiment simply because they are no longer of use to the laboratory.
The development of non-animal research techniques and testing methods has increased greatly in recent years, but certain routine tests on animals, for example those aimed at assuring the safety of ingredients in everyday products, continue even after they have been made redundant by an accepted non-animal replacement. At least 80,000 animals could be saved in the UK every year if six such tests were stopped. This includes almost 50,000 mice testing chemicals used in Botox manufacture.
Rather than trying to fit an entirely different species of animal into human-shaped needs, when even a sibling or parent can react differently to the same dose of the same drug, non-animal methods can be bespoke to tackle emerging diseases and bring more effective treatments to the market faster and at less cost.
Much more can be done to fully realise the potential of animal-free testing, through microchip re-creations of human cells and organs, artificial human skin grown in a laboratory, 3D printing, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and other methods. Such technology has the potential to be quicker, cheaper and more reliable than animal models, and could revolutionise safety testing and drug development.
Cruelty Free International’s 2021 YouGov survey found that 65% of people want a government-led plan to phase-out animal experiments with a target date for ending tests in the UK.
Cruelty Free International Head of Public Affairs, Dylan Underhill, said: “The government’s commitment to phase-out animal testing is a huge step forward but we need help from our supporters to ensure that this is delivered with ambition, and to demonstrate the importance of the issue to Members of Parliament. We must make it impossible for MPs to ignore the strength of feeling from their constituents and push them to prioritise this vital change.
“Every day we delay, animals are harmed and killed in laboratories when non-animal methods and alternative approaches already exist. It is time for the UK, as a nation of animal lovers, to lead on this issue and pave the way for scientific advancement in non-animal methods.”
