Exiting Westminster Station recently to attend parliament, I, and hundreds of others, were confronted with a heartbreaking People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) billboard featuring a mournful, defeated beagle, trapped in a barren cage inside a laboratory. The image is disturbing, but what it depicts is routine.
In 2023, animals were used in over 2.68 million scientific procedures in Great Britain. Beagles, like the one in PETA’s ad, are commonly used because of their docile nature, but fish, mice, rabbits, horses, chickens, and more are all victims of an industry that confines, invasively assaults, and ultimately kills.
In laboratories, animals are commonly kept in sparse cages until their turn to be used comes along, at which point they may be force-fed chemicals, be infected with debilitating viruses, or have their skulls drilled into so electrodes can be inserted into their brains. Animals used in research may also be deliberately paralysed, exposed to traumas, deprived of sleep and food, and subjected to a myriad of other grotesque practices. Many die during these procedures, and those who don’t are almost always killed at the end, considered the collateral damage of what is often mere curiosity.
Animal abuse in the name of science has long been mislabelled a “necessary evil”, with the public and parliament being sold the myth that animals’ lives are simply “the price we pay” for scientific advancement, but, really, animal-free science is more accurate and relevant to human health, and procedures involving animals are holding us back. The majority of so-called “highly promising” basic science discoveries are based on animal studies, but fewer than 10% of these result in clinical therapies within 20 years.
Developing a new drug is a lengthy and costly process, often taking 10 to 15 years. During this time, the failure rate exceeds 95 per cent, and the cost can exceed £1 billion. These figures highlight significant issues with the current drug development paradigm, with animal testing identified as one of the major contributing factors to these inefficiencies. Animal experimentation is wasting taxpayer funds and potentially delaying access to much-needed therapies, especially given the ever-growing collection of humane, advanced non-animal methods.
It’s now a full year since 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 has since called on the government to implement the Research Modernisation Deal (RMD), a clear 6-step strategy to end cruel, unethical and unreliable experiments on animals and embrace non-animal technologies that save time and money, and deliver scientific results more relevant to humans. From computer modelling to organs-on-chips, solutions abound; leaders just have to use the amazing technologies we already have and fund research into developing and expanding the range of humane research and assessment tools.
Animals are sentient individuals with thoughts, emotions and, if allowed, rich family bonds and social lives. They’re not centrifuges or beakers, not objects or subjects. When we exploit them for experiments, we leave a slew of suffering and death in the wake of inaccurate outcomes that only serve to delay scientific progress. PETA’s Research Modernisation Deal isn’t merely a hopeful plea for animal liberation; it’s a robust blueprint created by scientists designed to move the UK away from flawed science.
We must all urge the government to keep its promise and embrace the Research Modernisation Deal. Only when it does can our nation become a world leader in science that helps not only beagles, like the one on PETA’s new billboard, but all animals exploited in laboratories, and the humans whose lives depend on accurate, relevant medical research.
Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website. Subscribe to our daily newsletter for all the latest news and analysis.
The post Irene Campbell: ‘It’s time to modernise research — that means leaving animals out of it’ appeared first on Politics.co.uk.
