The National Anti-Vivisection Society of the United Kingdom, now known as Animal Defenders International (ADI), founded World Day for Laboratory Animals to raise awareness on animals that suffer annually in laboratories across the globe.
On World Day for Animals in Laboratories, the animal rights organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) staged protests against animal testing.
This comes after a video from laboratories in the United Kingdom was released earlier this week by Animal Aid, in partnership with Animals International, showing pigs being administered fluids to open wounds, tethered beagles being forced to swallow poisons, rabbits confined in plastic boxes, and monkeys having long tubes inserted into their stomachs.
“The footage is disturbing – but this is everyday practice in toxicity testing on animals,” stated Doctors Against Animal Experiments Vice Chair Corina Gericke.
“The pro-animal-testing lobby regularly downplays animal experimentation, but disturbing images like these demonstrate what truly happens behind closed laboratory doors.”
“Animal experiments are not only extremely cruel; they are also scientifically unsound and even counterproductive, as such tests guarantee neither the safety nor the effectiveness of substances for humans.”
“Subjecting millions of mice, dogs, monkeys, and other animals to cruel and unreliable experiments that do nothing to advance human health is totally senseless.”
“The government must expedite its commitment to end costly and defunct experiments on animals, and PETA is calling for an immediate switch to humane, state-of-the-art methods that actually save human lives,” PETA’s senior campaigns manager Kate Werner stated.
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UK government to hold debate on petition
The UK Parliament is set to hold a debate on a petition to end animal testing on April 27.
More than 119,000 people have signed the petition, which claims that several experiments on dogs and other animals result in their misery.
The Committee has requested that Irene Campbell MP, a member of the Petitions Committee, open the debate.
The government will dispatch a minister to respond, and MPs from all parties are welcome to participate.
On November 13, 2025, the government had previously responded to the petition and stated that it “does not agree to end testing on dogs and other animals for testing and research purposes” as it “remains necessary.”
Meanwhile, ADI Founder and President Jan Creamer stated that it is a “a critical time for the elimination of animal experiments, with the UK government setting out a roadmap for ending certain tests, such as the 100+ year old pyrogen test on rabbits and the forced swim test on rats, banned.”
“Critical to this progress is the increasing acceptance across science, regulators, and governments, that animal experiments are unreliable and outdated science,” Creamer added.
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