Ban Dogs From Medical Research in 1st Step of Phasing Out Animal Experimentation, MPs Hear

The debate comes after a number of U.S. government agencies announced they were phasing out the use of mammals in their experiments.

A Beagle, the 5th most popular breed of 2016, is shown at The American Kennel Club Reveals The Most Popular Dog Breeds Of 2016 at AKC Canine Retreat in New York on March 21, 2017. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

MPs have been told that the UK should take the first step towards fully phasing out animal testing by committing to a ban on the use of dogs in medical research.

Labour MP Irene Campbell made the remarks during a debate on the use of animals in medical research, in which members highlighted recent efforts by the United States and the European Union to reduce or commit to phasing out the practice.

Campbell, who sponsored the motion, told MPs on Tuesday that five animals are used in research every minute in the UK,  and that between January and March of this year over 2 million animals were approved for use across 125 projects “including 120 beagles, and there was a further licence for invasive brain surgery on monkeys.”

The MP for North Ayrshire and Arran said that science was showing that non-animal methods were more effective, relevant, and accurate and said that innovative technologies “can effectively and safely replace animal experiments.”

Acknowledging that further technological advances were needed before medical animal testing could be ended altogether, Campbell called for the government to commit to a timetable for phasing it out.

She said: “Banning the use of dogs in medical research could be our first step towards fully phasing out research on animals.

“We should be encouraged to follow in the footsteps of other countries, such as the USA, which has recently published a road map, with the aim of making animal testing the exception, rather than the norm, for pre-clinical safety toxicity testing over the next three to five years.”

Alternative Non-Animal Methods

Campbell is a member of the All-Parliamentary Group on Phasing Out Animal Experiments in Medical Research, and led a petition debate in Westminster Hall in April on the immediate ban on the experimentation of dogs for regulatory and scientific procedures; that petition is nearing 250,000 signatures.

According to a report prepared by the House of Commons Library, there were 2.7 million procedures involving living animals in Great Britain in 2023, in which 78 percent of animals used were mice. The next most-commonly used animals were zebrafish (12 percent), rats (6 percent), and chickens (2 percent). There were 3,770 scientific procedures carried out involving dogs.

The paper cited the American National Institutes of Health (NIH) for alternative, non-animal methods which can help to reduce or replace the use of animals in research, including using cell or tissue cultures, donated human tissue, and computer modelling.

During the debate on Tuesday, MPs noted that increased funding was needed in order for institutions to take advantage of advances in technology and move fully away from animal testing.

“There needs to be a serious shift in funding towards non-animal methods,” Campbell said.

Safe Alternatives Needed

The government has said that it does not agree with an immediate ban, but it would work towards phasing out medical animal testing as a long-term goal.

Minister Feryal Clark told MPs: “Phasing out animal testing has to be done in lockstep with the development of safe, accurate, and validated alternatives.

“The reality is that the technology is not yet advanced enough for alternative methods to completely replace the use of animals.

“Consequently, the carefully regulated use of animals remains necessary to protect humans and the wider environment.”

Clark added that animal testing in the UK is regulated through the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, which says that animals can only be used for science in specific and limited purposes, and where there is no alternative.

She said the government is committed to collaborating with industry and scientists to find ways to move away from animal testing, and that it will publish a strategy later this year setting out plans to develop, validate, and adopt alternative methods.

The National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., United States, on May 30, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

U.S. Departments Move Away From Animal Testing

The debate over when the UK transitions away from using animals in medical testing comes after a number of U.S. government agencies announced they were phasing out the use of mammals in their experiments.

On April 10, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it would be phasing out animal testing for monoclonal antibodies and other drugs.

The NIH, which is responsible for medical research, said on April 29 that it plans to use fewer animals in federally-funded work, replacing them with alternatives such as lab-grown organs.

The agency announced days later that it would be ending experiments using beagles on its campus.

NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said at the time that while it was easy, for instance, to cure Alzheimer’s in mice, the same results do not translate to humans.

Bhattacharya said on Fox, “So we put forward a policy to replace animals in research with technological advances, AI, and other tools that actually translate better to human health.”

Meanwhile, the European Commission confirmed last month that it would finalise a plan for ending animal testing by March 2026.

The commission’s Executive Vice-President Stephane Séjourné said that for changing some forms of medical research, “where no suitable or validated non-animal methods are currently available,” implementation could take years, depending on the development and validation of alternatives.