We Have the Right to Know – Help Scrap Section 24

Right now, animal tests in Britain are hidden behind a veil of secrecy. There’s a law that actually makes it illegal to share with the public what is being done to animals in laboratories – even though taxpayers’ money may be funding the experiments.

Now, at last, we have the chance to get rid of that law – Section 24 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

The UK government launched a public consultation to scrap Section 24, which has now closed. Thanks to everyone who responded to the consultation and asked politicians to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding animal testing. We’ll let you know as soon as we have further updates about changes to this misguided law.

Section 24 not only allows animal experimenters to conduct their cruel procedures behind closed doors but also leads to wasteful studies which delay medical progress and actually endanger human lives.

It’s good news that the government has decided to review Section 24. Freedom of access to information is an essential part of the democratic process, allowing the public to be fully informed about the horrors of animal testing and enabling wider scientific and ethical scrutiny of animal testing procedures so that alternatives to animals can be considered.

Approximately 11,000 animals are subjected to experiments in British laboratories every single day. These animals 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.

Some of these animals are used in tests for household products and their ingredients.

Please sign our action alert asking the government to stop the killing of animals for air fresheners, furniture polish and detergent.

Top image: Jo-Anne McArthur / WeAnimals.org