We win important ruling to shine a light on secretive animal research
We've won an important ruling against Imperial College London, who must now reveal details about its out-of-hours monitoring of the animals kept at their research laboratories.
During our undercover investigation at Imperial College London in 2012, we discovered that they only operated a basic 8am to 5pm care regime for the animals, even after painful and cruel surgery such as double kidney transplants and induced heart attacks.
Last year, we filed a Freedom of Information request to find out about their staffing hours. The College failed to provide key information, citing an alleged risk to staff safety, but we challenged this. The Tribunal has now rejected the College’s reasons for refusing to provide this information and given it 35 days to do so.
We want to know whether conditions for animals at the research facility have improved.
Michelle Thew, CEO of Cruelty Free International, says: “We're delighted we've won this important ruling. Without appropriate out-of-hours monitoring, it is impossible for Imperial College to provide sufficient care to the animals kept at its laboratory. We found examples of animals found dead in the morning due to failings on the part of key staff and the absence of overnight cover.”