2024

  • PETA Protests Animal Testing Outside Parliament

PETA stood in solidarity with compassionate individuals outside Parliament in the bustling streets of Westminster. We gathered with other animal protection groups ahead of a crucial debate on testing on animals in the UK. Despite modern advancements, distressed beagles, bunnies, and other animals continue to endure the harrowing cruelty of being used as laboratory equipment. They may be subjected to invasive procedures, force-fed chemicals, and killed.

  • Animal Groups Unite in Call for Manifesto Pledges to Phase Out All Experiments on Animals

Leading animal groups rushed a joint letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and other political party leaders calling on them to develop a national plan to rethink scientific research. As part of their manifesto commitments, all political parties need to commit to developing a roadmap that will phase out all experiments on animals and support the adoption of superior, animal-free technology. Only then can the UK achieve its goal of becoming a world leader in science.

2023

  • UK Government Recommended to Take Urgent Action

The Animals in Science Committee, an advisory body to the Home Office, recommended that the UK government take “urgent” action to implement a strategy to “accelerate the development and uptake” of non-animal methods, recognising the “scientific and economic opportunities associated with these innovations”. Following this, PETA scientists shared the Research Modernisation Deal with the committee and government ministers to highlight how it can do exactly that – and more.

  • Manifesto Commitments – MPs Urged to Support Bans on Animal Testing

As political parties write their manifestos for the next UK general election, PETA is calling on its supporters to contact their MPs and urge them to back a commitment to ending experiments on animals. PETA scientists wrote to those responsible for drafting manifestos for the various political parties, including party leaders and the prime minister, and provided each official with a copy of the Research Modernisation Deal.

  • PETA Calls For Change at the Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference

PETA scientists attended the Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference 2023 to seek the support of members of Parliament and other policymakers. In addition to disseminating copies of the Research Modernisation Deal, we urged officials to include a commitment to ending experiments on animals in the party manifesto.

  • International Conference Features PETA’s RMD

Scientists from PETA entities participated in the 12th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences, the premier conference on non-animal research and testing methods. They chaired eight sessions, delivered nine oral and six poster presentations about their life-saving work to end experiments on animals, and presented on the Research Modernisation Deal.

  • Learn How PETA’s RMD Can Stop All Chemicals Testing on Animals

PETA scientists participated in the Lush Prize Conference, where they presented on how the Research Modernisation Deal could be used to end all chemicals testing on animals in the UK. You can watch a recording of the event here.

  • PETA Presents RMD to a Cross-Party Group of MPs

PETA scientists have been delivering presentations to MPs from various parties to introduce them to its Research Modernisation Deal. Contact your MP and encourage them to learn how it can be used to develop a roadmap for ending experiments on animals in the UK.

  • PETA Scientist Featured in Politics Outlet

An article by a PETA scientist was published in the media outlet Politics.co.uk. It called for manifesto commitments which would support an end of animal use in experiments from political parties ahead of the next UK general election.

  • PETA Calls On Parties to Support Bans on Animal Testing in Their Manifestos

While political parties draft their manifestos, PETA is pushing for them to commit to planning to phase out animal tests. We’ve also sent a copy of the Research Modernisation Deal to party leaders Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer ahead of the next general election.

  • PETA Submits 111,000-Strong Petition to the Government

On World Day for Animals in Laboratories (24 April), PETA submitted a petition against tests on animals to the government. We covered a papier-mâché “beagle” – which represents all the animals who are tormented and killed in UK laboratories – in 111,000 signatures and called on the government to implement our Research Modernisation Deal immediately.

  • UK Conference Features PETA’s Research Modernisation Deal

PETA scientists presented a poster on the Research Modernisation Deal at a UK conference on animal testing attended by academics, policymakers, and others in the industry. The poster illustrated a clear strategy for ending experiments on animals and adopting superior, human-relevant methods.

  • PETA Meets With Minister Responsible for Animals in Science

After sharing our Research Modernisation Deal with the Home Office’s new minister responsible for animals in science, PETA scientists met with him. They discussed our work to end the use of the forced swim test and how the UK must become a world leader in animal-free science for the sake of animals, public health, scientific progress, and the economy.

  • Members of Parliament Speak Out for Animals

PETA’s top experts attended a debate in Parliament on the breeding of animals for experiments and the necessary transition to superior non-animal methods for research and testing. Experts shared our Research Modernisation Deal with MPs to highlight that a strategy for transitioning to non-animal methods already exists and is ready to be implemented.

  • PETA Shares Research Modernisation Deal With Imperial College London

Imperial College London publicly committed to replacing, reducing, and refining its use of animals in experimentation. Following the news, PETA scientists rushed a copy of the Research Modernisation Deal to the institution and requested a meeting to discuss the best approach to accelerating its transition to animal-free research methods.

2022

  • PETA Exposes Shockingly High Number of Procedures on Animals in 2021

PETA exposed the government for its lack of empathy and archaic approach to scientific procedures when our science team highlighted figures from the Home Office, which revealed over 3 million procedures were carried out on animals in Great Britain in 2021.

  • PETA’s Research Modernisation Deal Featured at Medical Research Conference

PETA scientists presented a poster on the Research Modernisation Deal at a UK conference on modernising medical research, attended by researchers and policy-makers. The poster clearly illustrated our strategy for ending experiments on animals – immediately and in the future – and adopting superior, human-relevant methods.

  • PETA’s Petition Reaches 100,000 Signatures

PETA’s petition to the government, urging it to adopt the Research Modernisation Deal and mandate an end to all experiments on animals, reached a milestone 100,000 signatures.

  • PETA Urges the University of East Anglia to Stop Force-Feeding Mice Faeces

After learning that the University of East Anglia is force-feeding mice faecal slurry – and killing the animals at the end of the experiment – PETA rushed a letter and a copy of our Research Modernisation Deal to the university. Instead of finding outrageous ways to abuse animals in pointless experiments, the university must be true to its commitment to finding “alternatives to the use of animals”, as it states on its website, and embrace the non-animal methods of experimentation already available.

  • PETA Submits Evidence to House of Lords Science and Technology Committee Inquiry

PETA submitted evidence to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee inquiry into the UK’s research and innovation system. It is the government’s ambition to become a “science superpower” – and we have outlined how it can achieve this goal with PETA’s Research Modernisation Deal, which provides a strategy for humanising biomedical research and testing in the UK. The first step is that the government must commit to ending experiments on animals.

2021

  • PETA Scientists Contact MPs for Parliamentary Adjournment Debate on Animal Testing

PETA scientists contacted MPs across the political spectrum urging them to speak up for animals and the future of science in the parliamentary adjournment debate on animal testing held on 16 December 2021. We sent them copies of our Research Modernisation Deal and asked them to push the government to make a commitment in Parliament to developing a strategy for ending experiments on animals and prioritise funding for sophisticated non-animal methods.

  • Research Modernisation Deal Sent to Home Secretary Priti Patel and Minister for Science, Research and Innovation George Freeman

Our science team has sent letters with copies of the Research Modernisation Deal to Home Secretary Priti Patel, who oversees the law governing the use of animals in scientific procedures, and Minister for Science, Research and Innovation George Freeman requesting a meeting with them. We have asked them to focus immediately on ending experiments on animals and to redirect funding to superior non-animal methods. We also urged them not to use the 3Rs – a principle that preaches absurdly named “humane” animal experimentation techniques through replacement, reduction, and refinement – as an excuse for stalling progress.

  • PETA’s Science Team Reaches Out to Prince Charles and AstraZeneca

When Prince Charles visited AstraZeneca’s new research centre in Cambridge and since he is interested in modern technology, we rushed out a copy of the Research Modernisation Deal to His Royal Highness to explain the need to focus only on innovative technology, such as growing human organs in laboratories, cell cultures, computer modelling, and high-throughput screening.

  • PETA’s Work Appears on the Science and Technology Committee’s Website

PETA scientists submitted evidence to a Science and Technology Committee inquiry on reproducibility and research integrity. We are calling on the committee to recognise the mountains of evidence showing that research methods using animals and testing on animals account for a large proportion of the reproducibility crisis. We also pointed out how the Research Modernisation Deal can help overcome these problems. Our evidence made its debut and is live on the UK Parliament website.