Legislation

There is no legal requirement for animal testing of any kind in the UK. Animals continue to be used due to habit, lack of incentives to change, funding restrictions, fear of litigation, academic ostracism, and a widespread lack of awareness of the superiority of non-animal methods (NAMs) of research. Their continued use is also driven by the absence of full legal validation and regulatory acceptance of NAMs.

The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) is the UK legislation that regulates the use of animals for research purposes. The enforcement of ASPA is carried out by the Home Office through the Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU).

ASPA regulates how pain, suffering, distress, and lasting harm may be inflicted on so-called “protected” animals, as well as how they may be bred and killed for research purposes.

Categories of Suffering under ASPA

The categories of suffering defined by ASPA are:

• Sub-threshold (less pain, suffering, distress, or lasting harm than the insertion of a hypodermic needle)
• Mild
• Moderate
• Severe
• Non-recovery (the animal remains under general anaesthesia throughout the procedure and is killed while still unconscious)

Notably, forcing a tube down a dog’s throat to administer drugs or chemicals is officially classified as “mild” suffering.

Types of Research

The majority of animals used in the UK are involved in:

• Basic research (curiosity-driven experiments), and
• Applied or translational research, which claims to focus on human diseases and treatments.

However, the majority of dogs bred for animal testing are used in experiments designed to meet regulatory requirements for drugs and chemicals, as set by the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH).

Crucially, none of these types of research are legally required to use animals. The decision to do so is made by researchers and institutions, largely due to institutional inertia and regulatory pressure.

International Regulatory Framework

The UK, along with the EU, USA, and Japan, is a member of the ICH, which sets the guidelines these countries follow in the development of medicines in order to trade globally.

ICH guidelines advise that new drugs be tested on two mammalian species before entering human clinical trials:

• one rodent (such as mice or rats), and
• one non-rodent, often dogs, pigs, or monkeys, but also rabbits, horses, or sheep.

Beagles are most commonly used as the non-rodent species in toxicity testing. Yet evidence shows that their suffering contributes no more than an insignificant 2% increase in the ability to predict human toxicity.

Exclusion from Animal Welfare Act

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 (AWA) explicitly excludes animals used in scientific research. As a result, laboratory animals are denied the broader welfare protections and enforcement mechanisms afforded to other animals in the UK.

For example, under the AWA, dogs must have access to the outdoors and be exercised daily. In contrast, beagles kept inside facilities such as MBR and other laboratories may never experience a single walk outdoors in their entire lives.