Parliamentary debate on the use of dogs in laboratories

Before attending the debate, Michelle spoke to activists and the gathered crowd holding a peaceful demonstration outside Parliament, to outline our campaign about lethal dose animal tests. Also present was Animal Aid’s patrons Wendy Turner-Webster, and Carol Royle as well as several influencers, including Faye Winter who had supported the petition in achieving a strong reach across social media. The peaceful rally has been coordinated by Camp Beagle, the longest running, permanent grassroots animal rights protest camp in the UK.

Animal Aid wants to see all laboratories free from animals and we are pleased that the issue of how animals are treated in laboratories, and how unreliable the ‘science’ is, is being kept in the public’s mind.

We know that a huge majority of the public are opposed to animal experiments – our polling figures released early last year (only a few days after the previous debate on animal experiments) showed:

• 72% of people thought it important to have a binding and timetabled plan developed to phase out the use of all animals in experiments.
• 77% agreed that ‘There should be a ban on all research involving animals which is not legally required’. Only 6% disagree.
• 76% agreed with the statement that ‘Existing funding, resources and expertise should be diverted away from animal experiments to improve the development and promotion of non-animal methods’. Only 4% disagreed.

The debate was well-attended with MPs speaking knowledgably and very passionately about the issue:

Alex Mayer  (Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard) (Lab)

“…there is a bit of a disconnect between the scientific possibility of non-animal alternatives and what is happening on the ground. For decades, there have been suggestions of ways that we can use non-animal alternatives, yet we are not using them.”

Seamus Logan (Aberdeenshire North and Moray East) (SNP)

“When the UK Government say that they are partnering with scientists, industry and civic society in working towards phasing out animal testing, I hope they will also consult with animal protection groups on that goal.”

Tom Hayes (Bournemouth East) (Lab)

“As a national of animal lovers, we are falling behind. The UK was the first country to create animal protection laws in 1822. We were the first to set up an animal welfare charity—the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The European Union is moving further and faster away from the UK in tackling these cruel experiments on animals and dogs. We must catch up.”

Ruth Jones (Newport West and Islwyn) (Lab)

“I hope that this debate will encourage the consideration of all current uses of animals in science and illustrate the support for achieving faster development and uptake of non-animal technologies.”

Feryal Clark – The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology  –  in response to the debate, confirmed that the government are committed to publishing their roadmap for phasing out animal experiments by the end of 2025. A commitment that was welcomed by those present.

The parting remarks of Ruth Jones, MP were that Labour should also ensure there is a transparent timeline published, so that they and their constituents can be assured that plans to deliver their roadmap are time-bound.

We want to see all animals taken out of laboratories and replaced with cutting edge non-animal new approach methodologies (NA-NAMs). This will not only save animals being harmed and killed to generate information which is unreliable, it could also place the UK as a global leader in humane science.

We have published a roadmap to outline the steps needed to phase out the use of animals in regulatory experiments (our next roadmap will address all the other areas of animal use).