Animal Aid in London talking about animal experiments

At the Home Office we handed in a large mouse-shaped message to Lord Sharpe, the Government Minister with responsibility for animal experiments. Our mouse message called on him to:

• Pledge to end all animal experiments, and ensure no licences are granted for ‘Lethal Dose’ tests, or where non-animal methods already exist.
• Urgently work with industries to promote existing animal-free test methods and ensure these are always used instead of animals.
• Significantly increase investment in animal-free science

We were excited to be joined by Carol Treasure, the founder of the amazing XCellR8 laboratory.

Once our giant mouse was safely handed in, we walked the short distance to Parliament Square where there was a gathering of animal rights activists, supporters of Camp Beagle, members from animal groups and many concerned individuals from all walks of life. The team chatted to lots of passionate individuals and our Head of Campaigns gave a short speech about the animals used in regulatory tests, how there are now ways to conduct better science and our calls to MPs and others to support a move away from animal experiments and an increase in funding for non-animal methods. After the speech from Animal Aid, Carol Treasure told the enthusiastic crowd about her amazing, vegan laboratory and their progressive work to replace animal tests. Animal Aid has previously made a grant to XCellR8 and announced another grant very recently.

After chatting with activists, the team made their way into the House of Commons to listen to MPs debate two parliamentary petitions about animal experiments. Ahead of the debate Animal Aid sent briefings to MPs to cover the key information we felt would be useful. The MPs spoke unanimously in support of a move away from animal experiments and an increase in funding for non-animal methods. The Minister, in response, promised to ‘double our investment in research to achieve the three Rs and develop non-animal alternatives’ which sees it going from £10 million to £20 million a year. This is a good step, but a small one and, unless the money is solely spent on replacing the use of animals, it is a real wasted opportunity.

It was a long and tiring day, but so inspiring to meet so many people who want to see an end to animal experiments and simply much better science.