No decline in animal testing globally despite widespread opposition

A new report from the Lush Prize estimates that globally more than nine million laboratory animals were subjected to chemical safety tests in 2013 despite widespread scientific agreement that they are neither humane nor effective.

The report, which is launched on the World Day for Animals in Laboratories, shows a 2 per cent increase in the use of laboratory animals from previous figures. This is despite recent regulations that have banned cosmetic safety testing in major economies around the world including Europe and India.

According to Rob Harrison, a Lush Prize Director:

“There is increasing agreement among scientists, ordinary people, companies and regulators that testing chemicals on animals is a technology of the past. But although we can see an increase in initiatives promoting more effective human cell-based tests, these are not apparently translating yet into a reduction of animals used.”

The report marks the opening of nominations for the 2014 Lush Prize which each year awards £250,000 to the best initiatives around the world which promote the development and use of non-animal tests. Over the past two years it has awarded prizes to organisations and individuals in countries including Japan, Germany, Canada the USA and the UK.

Anyone can nominate individuals or organisations for the prize.

The Report ‘A global View of Animal Experiments 2014’ explores the difficulty of comparing data on tests across different countries – some of which appear to release no data at all.

It concludes by recommending that all countries should publish accurate and comparable data on the animal testing taking place in their jurisdictions.

This would go a long way to aiding important international discussions of the level of animal testing, its purposes and the extent to which animals suffer.

Download the Full Report – A Global View of Animal Experiments 2014