10 Downing Street Protest Urges Government to End Animal Experiments

PETA supporters wearing masks depicting the faces of former prime ministers – including Rishi Sunak, Boris Johnson, and Tony Blair – urged the government to stop “clowning around.”

Gathered outside 10 Downing Street, the “clowns” told the government to mandate an end to all experiments on animals.

🤡 Enough clowning around! Today, PETA’s “clowns” – channelling former PMs including Rishi Sunak, Tony Blair, and Boris Johnson – gathered outside 10 Downing Street with a powerful message: End ALL experiments on animals! pic.twitter.com/WIz6F3s0JN

— PETA UK (@PETAUK) November 26, 2024

The action coincides with PETA’s open letter to Sir Kier Starmer, asking for a government-led plan to phase out all experiments. PETA’s letter has been signed by over 100 political figures, including Lord Sharpe of Epsom, and other supporters, including actor Jamie Bamber. The letter was also signed by Animal Aid, Animal Defenders International, Animal Free Research UK, Cruelty-Free International, Crustacean Compassion, Humane Society International UK, Lush Prize, Naturewatch Foundation, OneKind, and Replacing Animal Research.

Animals Suffering in UK Laboratories

In 2023, more than 2.68 million animals were bled, poisoned, deprived of food, isolated, mutilated, or otherwise subjected to psychological suffering and physical pain in British laboratories. Millions more were bred and discarded as “surplus” because, for example, they were not of the desired sex or lacked specific disease characteristics.

The Labour Party Pledged to End Experiments on Animals

In June, the Labour Party released its manifesto, pledging to work towards phasing out testing on animals and to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society” to achieve this goal. PETA is calling on the party to develop a roadmap to end all animal experimentation, with an ambitious timeframe, clear milestones, and achievable goals.

There’s no excuse for treating rats, mice, rabbits, and other animals as living test tubes, especially when cutting-edge, non-animal methods are widely available. PETA is calling on officials to solidly put ending the use of all experiments on animals on the political and public agenda and ensure that the government is held accountable for its commitments.

The government has already singled out experiments such as the infamous forced swim test as scientifically and ethically questionable. When in post at the Home Office earlier this year, Lord Sharpe promised to eliminate it from the UK. This work must be continued until every animal experiment is ended without delay.

Experiments on Animals are Unreliable

Given the vast physiological differences between humans and other animals, the results of such experiments are inherently unreliable.

Major scientific breakthroughs in diseases like diabetes and breast cancer have been achieved through studies conducted on consenting human patients, not on other species.

PETA scientists have researched the utter failure of the animal experimentation paradigm to help humans suffering from disease. It has been estimated that a “novel drug can take 10 to 15 years and more than [£1.5 billion] to develop, and failure rates occur in about 95 per cent of human studies”.

PETA’s Research Modernisation Deal

The Labour Party must develop a roadmap to ending the use of experiments on animals, and PETA scientists have already devised a comprehensive plan that policymakers can follow. Our groundbreaking Research Modernisation Deal (RMD) provides a clear six-point strategy, including increasing funds for the development of non-animal methods, to assist the government in phasing out all experiments on animals.