‘To stop millions of animals being used in needless and painful tests every year, we need progress and compassion, not the same old status quo.’
MPs are being urged to put their name to a pledge to support policies that set out concrete steps to phase out animal testing in Britain.
The Pledge Cruelty Free campaign has been launched by Cruelty Free International, which works to end animal experiments worldwide. The charity says the campaign is in direct response to the government’s decision to secretly abandon the UK’s 1998 ban on animal testing for cosmetics. The decision came to light as part of the organisation’s legal challenge to the Home Office on the UK’s policy on animal testing.
The charity notes how the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, had argued that she was bound by a law originating in the European Union to authorise such tests.
In a letter sent to Cruelty Free in August 2021, the Home Office admitted that it now allows animal testing for cosmetics in the UK. Documents disclosed in the court proceedings in January revealed for the first time that the Home Office secretly abandoned the ban in 2019, says Cruelty Free.
The legal challenge ruled that Braverman can reinstate the policy. Since the revelation, the government has partially reinstated a ban of the testing of animals for cosmetics. However, according to the charity, the ban only covers approximately 20 percent of the total ingredients, which it says “is not enough.”
MPs are encouraged to commit to supporting policies that will put Britain on track for a cruelty free future, including the full reinstatement of the 1998 ban back into law, which covers all ingredients used in cosmetics.
Dylan Underhill, head of public affairs at Cruelty Free International, described the UK as standing at a crossroads in its approach to animal testing.
“We know that, as a country, we can do so much better. Animal testing touches our lives in many ways that most of us don’t appreciate, from cosmetics and household products to clothes, furniture, plastics, electronic and white goods, paints, dyes, and food. To stop millions of animals being used in needless and painful tests every year, we need progress and compassion, not the same old status quo,” said Underhill.
Statistics by the Home Office show that in 2022, there were over 2.76 million uses of animals in laboratories in the UK. Underhill explained that the number of tests performed on animals in Britain has seen small year-on-year reductions, which the organisation welcomes.
“But politicians, regulators and researchers must be proactive in ensuring that this progress not only continues but accelerates. The government must honour the Home Secretary’s commitment towards developing alternatives to animal testing, especially when modern innovations in non-animal methods can produce better results, potentially saving lives and resources.
“We call on the government to put the 1998 cosmetics ban into law, set out concrete steps to build a modern, cruelty free system for assuring chemicals safety, and draw up a plan to phase out animal testing for good, including a new ministerial role to deliver the plan, dedicated to accelerating the transition to humane and human-relevant science,” he added.
Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is a contributing editor to Left Foot Forward
Image credit: YouTube screen grab
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