Ending the cycle of non-compliance: Why the UK needs a clear roadmap for animal-free research

There is no question that the UK is a nation of animal lovers. Every week, my inbox is full of messages from constituents making the passionate case for stronger animal welfare protections. They are right to do so.

Yet the reality is stark: legally sanctioned animal suffering remains routine in this country. In 2024 alone, a massive 2.64 million scientific procedures were carried out on animals in the UK. Not all these experiments went to plan, and the Home Office’s Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU) annual report for 2024, published in December, provides a troubling insight into what happens when our safeguards fail.

In 2024 alone, 146 non-compliance incidents were recorded in British laboratories, involving more than 22,000 animals. Analysis by Animal Free Research UK suggests that at least 542 animals either died or were euthanised directly as a result of these regulatory failures. This is large scale suffering that breached existing legal protections and should have been prevented.

The incidents detailed in the report are deeply disturbing. Animals drowned, starved, were left without veterinary care, or were accidentally disposed of as waste. In one case, a mother was removed and killed, leaving seven unweaned pups to starve. Elsewhere, animals were reused in experiments without proper authorisation or kept alive beyond humane endpoints as tumours grew too large or body weight dropped to dangerous levels.

The scale of the suffering is inhumane and calls the entire system into question; we cannot accept this as an acceptable cost of our testing framework.

Whilst the ASRU exists to enforce animal testing law, and to ensure animals are not used where scientifically satisfactory non-animal methods exist, it is clear our system is creating tremendous animal suffering with far too little oversight. In 2024, just 68 establishments across Great Britain were audited, with only 10 unannounced inspections – a sharp drop from 63 per cent in 2018. Nearly 70% of incidents were self-reported, raising a troubling question: how many more go undetected?

When considering these breaches, it is striking to also reflect on what is legally permitted. In some cases, primates may have their entire daily food intake withheld to be used as a reward during behavioural tasks lasting up to six hours. Rats can be deprived of water for up to 22 hours a day. Many animals undergo painful procedures without analgesia because pain relief might “interfere” with results. This is what the system working as intended looks like.

Despite decades worth of scientific criticism and ethical concerns, thousands of procedures still rely on outdated tests such as LD50 toxicity testing and the Forced Swim Test, methods the Government itself acknowledges have limited scientific validity. After all this suffering, more than 92 per cent of drugs that succeed in animal tests are not eventually used by patients, largely because animal models do not reliably predict human outcomes.

Its time for us to position the UK as a global leader, both scientifically and ethically, and phase out animal testing once and for all. Human-specific technologies – using human cells, tissues, artificial intelligence, and advanced modelling – are already delivering faster, safer, and more relevant results. Decades of pioneering work have delivered breakthroughs, such as “mini-hearts” that accurately model human cardiac disease without harming animals. Placing ourselves at the cutting edge of this technology offers us the opportunity to deliver much needed innovation and economic growth.

I am proud that it was a Labour Government that introduced the ban on testing cosmetics on animals in 1998, and I believe we must now seize the opportunity to lead once again. To be sure, the Government’s Replacing Animals in Science Strategy, published in November 2025, is a welcome step in the right direction. However, we now need a clear commitment to replace animals in medical research by 2035. This is known as Herbie’s Law, after a beagle bred for the laboratory but saved before he was used. The law would provide a practical, collaborative roadmap, backed by expert oversight and support for scientists through the transition.

The non-compliance incidents detailed in the ASRU report must serve as clear reminder that our testing regime requires urgent change. Ultimately, the only way to prevent such failures, and to eliminate animal suffering more broadly, is to end animal testing altogether. We must commit to making that a reality in the next decade.