Tell your MP how important it is to end animal testing in the UK
We have written to the leaders and key spokespeople of seven UK political parties, including Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, as part of a joint letter sent by ten animal welfare organisations asking for all parties “to commit to developing a nationwide roadmap for phasing out all experiments on animals” before the next General Election.
We have written to the leaders and key spokespeople of seven UK political parties, including Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, as part of a joint letter sent by ten animal welfare organisations asking for all parties “to commit to developing a nationwide roadmap for phasing out all experiments on animals” before the next General Election.
The Letter was also sent to the leaders and spokespeople for home affairs and science of the Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, Scottish National Party, Green Party, Democratic Unionist Party and Plaid Cymru.
It continues: “Such a plan must go beyond the legislative responsibilities to uphold the 3Rs (the replacement, reduction, and refinement of experiments on animals) by creating a plan with an ambitious timeframe, clear milestones, and achievable goals to accelerate a transition away from the use of animals in UK science.”
Also signatories of the letter were Animal Aid, Animal Defenders International, Animal Free Research UK, Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments, Humane Society International UK, Naturewatch Foundation, OneKind, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Our ‘Pledge Cruelty-Free’ campaign, to help UK residents kick animal testing out of their homes, calls for:
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The UK’s 1998 ban on testing cosmetics on animals, covering ingredients used both predominantly and exclusively in cosmetics, to be fully reinstated and put into law, to protect it from being abandoned by future governments;
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Homes to be made safer by modernising the system and removing animals from the testing of chemicals that go into the products we use every day, such as clothes, household cleaning, furniture, electronic goods, paints and dyes, and food; and
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The government to create a plan to phase-out animal testing forever, with a minister dedicated to delivering this plan across all government departments.
Following the revelations in our Judicial Review of the UK policy on animal testing for cosmetics in May 2023, it was discovered that the government had secretly abandoned the 1998 ban. The Home Secretary asserted that “the government is committed to replacing animals used in science wherever scientifically possible” and was “working with industry to improve safety by the application of new non-animal science and technology.”
To honour these two commitments, future governments must show political leadership and take steps to accelerate progress.
Home Office statistics show that there were over 2.76 million uses of animals in laboratories in Great Britain in 2022. 10% of those are tests required by regulators to assess the safety or effectiveness of chemicals, medicines and other products.
Yet, despite tests which are meant to keep us safe, the pharmaceutical industry is in a silent crisis: 92% of drugs fail in clinical trials even though they passed extensive pre-clinical tests (including animal tests) which suggested that they were safe and effective. Meanwhile, the rapidly growing availability of non-animal methods which often outperform traditional animal models provides an opportunity to drive better outcomes and bring an end to animal suffering in laboratories.
Of the remaining uses of animals in British laboratories in 2022, 45% were in the creation and breeding of genetically altered animals; and a further 29% in basic, curiosity-driven research. Many of these tests, which aren’t required by the regulator and are essentially voluntary, could be removed with very little impact. This should be one of the first areas to be addressed in a comprehensive government led plan to phase out testing on animals.
We calculate that some 80,000 animal tests could be ended immediately, as they continue to be conducted despite availability of approved non-animal alternatives.
Dylan Underhill, our Head of Public Affairs, said: “In a General Election year, it is vital that MPs and candidates know both the possibilities of cruelty-free science and how important the issue of animal testing is to their constituents. The UK stands at a crossroads in its approach to animal testing. We know that, as a country, we can do so much better. Animal testing touches our lives in many ways that most of us don’t appreciate, from cosmetics and household products to clothes, furniture, plastics, electronic and white goods, paints, dyes, garden fertilisers, and food.
“The government’s attitude towards animal testing has for too long been passive, and tolerant of an outdated status quo. Instead, to stop millions of animals being used in cruel and painful tests every year, we need progress and compassion. The government must do more to promote alternatives and end the use of animals in science, especially when modern innovations in non-animal methods can produce better results, potentially saving lives and resources.”
Show your support for a Cruelty-Free UK by taking the Pledge – and find out how you can ask your MP to help kick animal testing out of our homes.