FOI - 2014 Consultation on the Review of Section 24 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986
What:
I have submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Home Office, asking for 3 things:
The 2014 ‘Response to Consultation’ document, i.e. the report,
The submitted responses from the public,
The draft report that was mentioned in Parliament 2015.
Why This Matters:
Due to the restrictive nature of the current law, we know very little about these experiments involving living animals.
Are they necessary? Are there better alternatives? What do the animals go through?
The government publishes annual summary statistics but they don’t paint a good enough picture.
Background:
Section 24 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 is known as the “Secrecy Clause”. It makes it a criminal offense for anyone to disclose information about scientific experiments.
In 2014, the government did a Consultation called “Consultation on the review of Section 24 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986”.
In this Consultation paper, the government:
Acknowledged that Section 24 is too restrictive,
Outlined 4 options in how to change the law,
Gave their preferred option,
Asked the public for their input.
11 years on, there’s no report, no law change, no explanation.
What can you do:
Follow my daily updates on tiktok @ricebowltalk where I cover the history of this law, the data of animal testing, and more!
Want to participate? Get ready to take action on the 17th June.
