Image by Тимур Бах from Pixabay

A recent poll, commissioned by Animal Free Research UK and carried out by YouGov was done with results published on Jan. 16, 2025. Among other things, it shows that 75% of Britons support reallocating funding from animal experiments to non-animal research methods. This shows overwhelming public support. We expect Canadian opinion isn’t too far off.

From Animal Free Research UK:

A landmark poll carried out by YouGov and commissioned by Animal Free Research UK, found that 7 in 10 people (70%) in Britain support the introduction of a new law that would end animal experiments in medical research by 2035 and include measures to support scientists with the transition to non-animal methods.  

This suggests overwhelming public support for Herbie’s Law – a vital measure that Animal Free Research UK has been calling for. Named after Herbie, our CEO Carla’s rescued beagle, Herbie’s Law would prompt a ‘decade of change’ and would set an ambition of phasing out animal experiments by 2035, describing how progress will be maintained and supporting scientists with the transition. The Animals in Medical Research (Prohibition Bill), based on Herbie’s Law, has been introduced into Parliament by Steve Race, MP for Exeter, and will have its second reading on 17 January 2025. 

According to the latest available data from the Home Office, 2.68 million scientific procedures involving living animals were carried out in Great Britain in 2023. Despite huge leaps forward in science and technology, we are still experimenting on the same number of animals as we were in 1956. 

Animal Free Research UK Public Affairs Director Isobel Martin said: “It is crystal clear from the YouGov poll, the vast majority of people in Britain support the introduction of Herbie’s Law, as well as re-allocating resources to help our scientists make the transition. 

All the while, animal-based research and testing is failing to generate the breakthroughs that patients so urgently need. 92% of drugs which show promise in animal tests currently fail to reach the clinic and benefit patients, mostly for reasons of poor efficacy and safety that were not predicted by animal testing.  

Modern, human-specific technologies offer the best possible chance of securing medical progress, since they’re not hampered by translating from one species to another. 75% of those polled in Britian were clear that they would support the Government using funding currently used for animal experiments to fund research that uses non-animal methods. One example of this, funded by Animal Free Research UK, is the work of Professor Gwendolen Reilly, at the University of Sheffield, who is using an organ-on-chip model of mature human bone with immune cells to study how breast cancer spreads to the bone. 

“The Government were elected on a manifesto promise to work towards phasing out animal testing. This latest poll provides yet more evidence that the public are behind this vital mission.  Introducing Herbie’s Law will bring us closer to a world where animal testing is consigned to the history books, ensuring that Britain doesn’t fall behind the exciting global progress in this field, and supporting our proud identity as a nation of animal lovers.”