Over 3 Million Experiments on Animals Carried Out in British Laboratories in 2021

Figures from the Home Office published today reveal that over 3 million scientific procedures were conducted on animals in Great Britain in 2021.

This chilling figure means pain and suffering for millions of sentient beings right on our doorstep. The government is clearly dragging its feet and refusing to move on from archaic experiments to relevant, 21st-century science.

Experiments on animals often fail to predict reliable results in humans, yet cats, dogs, rabbits, and other animals may still be legally bled; poisoned; deprived of food, water, or sleep; subjected to psychological distress; deliberately infected with diseases; subjected to brain damage; paralysed; exposed to skin or eye irritants; burned; gassed; force-fed; electrocuted; and killed.

All these animals feel pain and fear just as we do. Their overwhelming natural instincts – like ours – are to be free and to protect their own lives.

They don’t want to be locked in a laboratory cage.

Bad Science

Animal experiments are not only painful, invasive, and cruel but also bad science. These misleading tests squander huge amounts of money, time, and resources that could have been spent on human-relevant research.

Just recently, we found out that the University of East Anglia was force-feeding mice with faeces in an attempt to reverse ageing in the gut, eye, and brain. This experiment did nothing but waste money and mice’s lives, as there is already an abundance of human data on this. The university would be far better off investing its time in observing the many human patients who have already received this type of treatment.

The Tide Is Turning

World-leading organisations are saying no to cruel and pointless tests. Following discussions with PETA scientists, 15 companies and three universities declared they will not use the forced swim test.

The absurdity of putting small animals in inescapable beakers of water while they fruitlessly search for an escape has finally been recognised, as a major publication identified the test as a poor model that could rule out the discovery of effective new drugs for humans.

We Can Help End Pointless Experiments on Animals

The government needs to embrace superior non-animal research methods and bring the number of archaic animal tests down to zero. Our Research Modernisation Deal provides a detailed strategy for freeing up funds for animal-free research methods that actually stand to help humans.