Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation welcomes Westminster Hall Debate on e-petition relating to commercial breeding for laboratories

The Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation (CAWF) has welcomed the Westminster Hall Debate led by Conservative MP Elliot Colburn yesterday relating to a public petition on ending commercial breeding for laboratories, which received over 102,000 signatures from the UK public.

LONDON, 17th January 2023

The Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation (CAWF) has welcomed the Westminster Hall Debate led by Conservative MP Elliot Colburn yesterday relating to a public petition on ending commercial breeding for laboratories, which received over 102,000 signatures from the UK public.

The petition calls for all establishment licences for commercial breeders of animals to be revoked. It also calls for amendments to the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA). Firstly, for the 3Rs principle (replace, reduce, refine) set out in Section 2A of the Act to be replaced with legislation focused on the use of non-animal methods for scientific research and testing.

In 2021, over 3 million scientific procedures were conducted on animals; this represented a 6% increase on the year before. The use of dogs increased by 3%, cats by 6%, horses by 29% and monkeys by 17%.

MPs who contributed to yesterday’s debate included Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation Patron Henry Smith MP, who described animal experimentation as “bad science” which is “hindering the development of treatments that benefit humankind”. Conservative MP Alexander Stafford also called for the Government to “make the UK a world leader by banning animal testing.” A number of other MPs also supported the petition, including SNP MP Dr Lisa Cameron and Labour MP Kerry McCarthy.

In advance of yesterday’s debate Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation urged MPs to speak out against animal experiments. The full debate can be read here.

Lorraine Platt, Co-Founder of Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation, commented: “We were pleased to support this important debate yesterday on taking steps to end the use of animal experiments in the UK. It is concerning that the frequency of these experiments has increased in recent years, amidst reports of troubling welfare conditions.

“We hope that this debate will serve as a catalyst to take further action on ending the use of these cruel experiments and spare many animals the suffering they currently ensure in laboratories. We would finally like to thank all of the MPs, including our Patron Henry Smith, for their contributions to yesterday’s debate.”

About Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation (CAWF)

The Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation was established in 2016 to raise awareness on the lives of billions of animals reared on intensive farms around the world and how this impact upon animal welfare, the environment and people’s health. We want to highlight the action people can take to help advance farm animal welfare.

Animal welfare is an increasing concern amongst the public, who frequently look to Government to take the lead in both maintaining and improving standards.

The Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation believes it is highly important that the welfare of farm animals is placed at the forefront of the Governments plan for food and farming along with its focus on productivity, competitiveness, and technology.

Media contact: Sophia Stileman (sophia.stileman@conservativeanimalwelfarefoundation.org, 07715888164).

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