Animal Testing ‘Secrecy Clause’ Section 24 Could Be Scrapped

A step in the right direction! The UK government has just launched a public consultation to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding animal testing.

Section 24 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 not only makes it illegal for information about animal experiments to enter the public domain, providing animal experimenters with a cloak of secrecy to hide behind, but also leads to wasteful, poorly conducted studies which delay medical progress and actually endanger human lives.

Every day, 11,000 animals are subjected to abuse and suffering in British laboratories that would be illegal if they took place in any other context. They are poisoned, surgically mutilated, starved, “stressed”, infected with deadly diseases or electrocuted. At the end of the experiments, all of them die – alone and afraid.

Members of the public have a right to know what is being done to animals in their name and with their taxes. Freedom of access to information is an essential part of the democratic process and the only means by which research can be properly scrutinised in order to ensure the best possible outcome for people and animals.

More than 17,000 concerned PETA supporters wrote to the Home Office, asking for the secrecy clause to be abolished. Now, thanks to your efforts, we’re a step closer to making it happen – and to fewer animals being tortured behind closed doors in UK laboratories.

We’ll be posting more information about the consultation and letting you know the best way to help very soon, so please watch this space!

Image: Jo-Anne McArthut / WeAnimals.org