Ban Animal Testing - Fund, accept & promote alternatives to animal testing

We would like the Government to ban all animal testing UK, including for the development of cosmetics, household products and medicines. Alternatives need to be actively funded. Many products that are tested on animals end up not being suitable for humans. Animal testing is outmoded and should end.

Testing on animals is a waste of public money and delays medical progress. Replacing animal tests does not have to mean putting human patients at risk or halting medical progress. Instead, replacing animal testing should improve the quality as well as the humaneness of our science. There are massive bureaucratic hurdles to implementing alternatives, which the Government could remove. There is no rational moral justification for using animals in experiments.

Government believes scientific research using animals plays a vital part in our understanding of how biological systems work in health and disease. The use of animals in science supports the development of new medicines and cutting-edge medical technologies, for humans and animals, and the safety and sustainability of our environment. However, animals must only be used where there is no alternative. This is achieved through robust regulation, and support/funding for non- animal alternatives.

In the UK, no animal testing may be conducted except for a permissible purpose enshrined in law. These purposes include to: assess the safety of medicines or chemicals; protect the environment; allow the development of medicines; and conduct basic scientific research to understand how biological systems and processes work. Under UK law no animal testing may be conducted if there is a non-animal alternative available. The use of animals in such testing is strictly limited to that necessary to achieve the scientific benefits.

Animal testing is required by all global medicines regulators, including the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), to protect human health and safety. Without the testing of potential medicines on animals the development, registration and marketing of new, safe, and effective medicines would not be possible. The animal species for testing of potential medicines are specifically chosen to give as much human relevant information as possible and to avoid species specific reactions which would not predict human effects. Many products which would unsafe or ineffective in humans are detected through animal testing thus avoiding harm to humans. Potential medicines fail in development for many reasons but the fact that medicines are stopped in development for reasons other than unsatisfactory animal testing does not mean that the testing is not essential.