Change the law to include laboratory animals in the Animal Welfare Act.
This petition gathered 110,268 signatures between 20 July 2021 and 20 January 2022, according to the Parliament petitions site. The Government responded on 20 August 2021. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 7 February 2022.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Change the law to include laboratory animals in the Animal Welfare Act.
The Government needs to change the law so laboratory animals are included in the Animal Welfare Act. Laboratory animals are currently not protected by the Act and are therefore victims of 'unnecessary suffering' (see section 4 of the Act: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/45/section/4).
A recent exposé showed harrowing footage of the factory farming of laboratory dogs in the UK. Experiments on such dogs, and other animals, are today widely reported to be entirely failing the search for human treatments and cures.
Current science from multiple fields proves that animal-based research and testing is not viable. The Government should therefore change the law to include laboratory animals under the protection of the Animal Welfare Act, to prevent their unnecessary suffering.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 20 August 2021; the petitions site lists the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as responsible. Its summary:
The Government believes animal use for research remains important and The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) provides specific protection for these animals..
The opening 280 words of the 740-word response:
There is an explicit exclusion under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (AWA), to provide for the legitimate conduct of procedures on ‘protected animals’ for scientific or educational purposes that may cause pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm. The use of animals in scientific research remains a vital tool in improving our understanding of how biological systems work both in health and disease. Such use is crucial for the development of new medicines and cutting-edge medical technologies for both humans and animals, and for the protection of our environment.
The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) is the specific piece of legislation which provides protection for these animals:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/consolidated-version-of-aspa-1986
No animals may be used under ASPA if there is a validated non-animal alternative that would achieve the scientific outcomes sought. The protections for animals under ASPA include the need for three levels of licence for such procedures to occur, welfare standards which need to be met, and activities including inspection which assure compliance with ASPA. The Home Office is the department responsible for regulating the use of animals under ASPA. If any activity is found to be in breach of what is permitted under ASPA, then the AWA will apply.
Details of how these regulations are administered and operationalised are set out in the Guidance on the operation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) available at:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/guidance-on-the-operation-of-the-animals-scientific-procedures-act-1986.
Details of the code of practice for housing and accommodation of animals regulated under ASPA approved by Parliament which form a core pillar of compliance assurance activities under ASPA are available at:
Code of practice for the housing and care of animals bred, supplied or used for scientific purposes - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 492, came from Huntingdon.
107,952 of the signatures were from the UK and 2,316 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Huntingdon | 492 |
| North West Cambridgeshire | 467 |
| North East Cambridgeshire | 436 |
| West Suffolk | 294 |
| Isle of Wight | 292 |
| South East Cambridgeshire | 283 |
| Rochford and Southend East | 281 |
| Surrey Heath | 279 |
| Wealden | 279 |
| North East Hertfordshire | 277 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| South East | 16,339 |
| East of England | 12,698 |
| North West | 12,541 |
| South West | 10,949 |
| London | 9,220 |
| West Midlands | 8,678 |
| East Midlands | 8,083 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 7,854 |
| Scotland | 6,913 |
| Wales | 5,607 |
| North East | 4,078 |
| Northern Ireland | 1,561 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 7 February 2022. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/591775.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
4a02cddf61af1fcd… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.