Alongside the public awareness, education, and support for non-animal methods, we’ve continually collaborated with other groups to drive political change, and thankfully together have achieved a ban on animal testing for cosmetics, first in the UK then across the EU. But from our founding days, we have always been committed to the abolition of ALL animal experimentation and so prior to the 2024 general election, Animal Aid worked hard to secure Labour’s manifesto commitment to phase out all animal testing.
With the most significant commitment ever from government, in late 2024 Animal Aid produced our roadmap to end animal testing required by law. We sent the roadmap to all relevant Government Ministers and met with the government, parliamentarians and those tasked with producing their strategy, making the strongest case for the sake of both animals and human-relevant science. Earlier this week we hosted a roundtable discussion with MPs to further push the case to end animal testing.
And now we wait. But in stark contrast to our early days, where we were on opposite sides to ‘industry’ and scientists, they too are now also calling for many of the changes we want to see, all frustrated that regulators and the policymakers are so far behind.
Progress is so much slower than any animal campaigner would like, but we know the work that Animal Aid and our supporters around the country have done over the last five decades to raise awareness of and push for change has made a huge difference.
We hope that the imminent Government strategy will show real ambition and provide a progressive and urgent plan to end the use of all animals in laboratories, with an immediate ban on the LD50 and similar tests.