Current effort:
18th August 2025
ICO complaint submitted
I am challenging the Home Office’s refusal to release the report of the 2014 Consultation Section 24 Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
Finishing what the government tried to do 11 years ago.
Section 24 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986
Change the law that
criminalises disclosing of information.
11 June 2025
For the first time, forced a public admission from the Home Office—the 2014 consultation report exists.
The 2014 consultation report was meant to outline how the government would change Section 24 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. But for the last 11 years, the government has refused to release this report.
Link to the Freedom of Information request, and see the Home Office’s response in full.
29 October 2025
Parallel pressure in Parliament—Parliamentary Written Question tabled.
My FOI alone is not enough for the government to take this seriously. The last time an MP tabled a Parliamentary Written Question about the outcome of the 2014 consultation result was in October 2023. Almost two years ago. It is time for renewed pressure in Parliament to continue what the government tried to do 11 years ago.
Link to the Parliamentary Written Question, and see the government’s response.
I’m Melody, a curiosity-driven data nerd on a mission.
No lab coat or fancy title—just a determination to unpack how we use animals through data, documents and relentless questions.
Years ago, a family member asked,
‘There are laws to make sure animals are treated right, aren’t there?’
I started digging.
What I found wasn’t black and white: loopholes, exemptions, and practices many would call inhumane—if they knew.
But most people aren’t aware.
That’s why I do this: to find the facts, connect the dots, and hand them to you.
Because change starts when we look.
FOI
TIMELINE
19th May 2025: FOI submitted asking for the report of the 2014 consultation Section 24 ASPA
11th June 2025: Home Office responded to the FOI, using exemption 35(1)(a) claiming ongoing policy work to refuse disclosing the requested information
13th June 2025: IR submitted citing March 2024 Animal Science Committee minutes that said “the Minister had decided not to review Section 24 of ASPA”, therefore contradicting Home Office’s claim of ongoing policy work
23rd July 2025: Home Office responded to the IR with an even more vague claim “since 2024, work on section 24 has resumed”
18th August: Complaint submitted to the ICO, with a list of official statements from 2014 to 2025 that shows no substantive policy work on Section 24 ASPA has been carried out, directly contradicting Home Office’s claim.
6th September: ICO Case Reference number received.
60%
of mammals on Earth are
livestock.
Yet hardly anyone sees how they’re treated.
Source: Hannah Ritchie (2022) - “Wild mammals make up only a few percent of the world’s mammals” Published online at OurWorldinData.org. Retrieved from: 'https://ourworldindata.org/wild-mammals-birds-biomass' [Online Resource]
*Quoting the number for mammals, and not all animals, purely because this is the best stats to make this impactful point.
News
Every fact is backed by laws, FOIs, or government data. See the proof, then use it to demand change.
