Animal Aid

Animal Aid’s new anti-vivisection campaign focuses on the involvement of medical research charities in vivisection, and urges people not to donate money to charities that conduct or fund tests on animals. Not only is animal research cruel, it is also a waste of the public’s money, as the results cannot be reliably applied to human patients.

Medical research charities play an important role when it comes to human health, yet many of them, including Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation, the Alzheimer’s Society and Parkinson’s UK, conduct or fund invasive research on animals. This campaign aims to dispel some of the secrecy surrounding this research, and let the public know what their donations are paying for. Ultimately, we want to persuade medical research charities to stop funding cruel and unreliable animal experiments.

Not only is animal research harmful to animals, it is also potentially harmful to people. Animals do not get the same diseases as we do, and different species react very differently to drugs and procedures. Drugs that are shown to be safe in animals have often later proved to be dangerous in humans, while valuable cures and treatments can be missed if they fail in animal tests.

In our new report, Victims of Charity, we focus on the four charities mentioned above, and the conditions they fund research into – cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. They were chosen both because they are well-known organisations and because these diseases are among the most prevalent in the UK today. We examined past and contemporary animal research in these areas, and found not only appalling suffering, but also a lack of significant health benefits to people.

You can view the report online or order a hard copy from info@animalaid.org.uk.

We need your help to make this campaign a success!

We are holding two Days of Action this year to help build momentum and increase the pressure on these charities: 9 June and 8 September. If you can get involved by holding an information stall, please contact us for materials.

We want to tell the world that stopping animal experiments will not mean an end to scientific progress. Modern, state-of-the-art, non-animal methods allow us to obtain data that is more accurate and relevant to human health, and therefore more likely to lead to effective treatments.

There are many different ways you can take part:

1. Order a set of campaign postcards to send to Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation, the Alzheimer’s Society and Parkinson’s UK, urging them to stop funding animal experiments.
2. Set up a street stall to help raise awareness of this issue. Contact info@animalaid.org.uk to order resources.
3. Donate only to those charities that do not conduct or fund animal experiments. View our up-to-date list or request a hard copy from info@animalaid.org.uk.
4. Email the letters page of your local paper – getting a letter into print is a great way to get the message out to thousands of people.
5. Consider donating part of your body to be used for research after your death, or in the course of medical treatment. You can view our Human Tissue Research factsheet for more information, or order a hard copy.
6. Order copies of our leaflet to distribute on the high street, or to friends, family and colleagues.
7. Order sets of stickers saying you won't support Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation, the Alzheimer's Society or Parkinson's UK until they stop funding animal experiments.