I am writing to you from India where Dr Jarrod Bailey, our Senior Research Scientist, and I are meeting with key decision makers to convince them to move away from allowing animals to suffer in experiments.

Ending animal tests for cosmetics everywhere and forever

First up, we’ll be talking about our campaign with The Body Shop for a global ban on cosmetics testing on animals - and the vital role India can play in helping achieve this.

India banned animal testing for cosmetics back in 2013, but 80% of the world still allows animals to be used in cosmetics tests. Sadly, rabbits and guinea pigs are amongst half a million animals who suffer each year.

Our ambitious global campaign was launched in India by Bollywood star Jacqueline Fernandez in June. And we’ve just received the fantastic news that our Forever Against Animal Testing petition with The Body Shop has reached an amazing 3 million signatures.

A huge thank you to every compassionate person who has added their voice to our call.

Turning beagles into freagles

Over the last couple of years, Jarrod and I have both presented our work to the Indian authorities. And this week we’ll again be presenting to government scientists and university researchers about why experiments on dogs cannot be justified on either ethical or scientific grounds.

We’ll be talking about our ground-breaking research which shows that testing drugs meant for humans on dogs doesn’t correctly predict results in humans.  And we’ll be presenting our latest paper with our colleagues at People For Animals India which shows that dogs are much smarter than some originally thought – having the same level of awareness and understanding as human toddlers.

Every year an estimated 200,000 dogs across the world are forced to suffer in experiments, which include testing chemicals and new drugs for humans. With evidence that testing on these loving and loyal family members isn’t an effective way to develop medicine for humans - and the steadily growing availability of alternatives - there is no need for this horrific practice to continue.

That’s why this week, we’ll being doing everything we can to convince Indian decision-makers to do the right thing for animals.

The good news is that the country has already taken a significant step towards our ultimate goal of ending experiments on dogs. In 2015, officials issued new guidelines to find homes for dogs used in experiments. The move followed two years of campaigning by Cruelty Free International for animals to be released from laboratories.

And last year we celebrated the magical moment when the first beagles – who we affectionately call the freagles! – were released from an Indian laboratory under the new policy.

We believe every animal should be free. And with this weeks’ meetings and the ear of those who can make a real difference, we hope we can move closer to an India where no animal is forced to suffer.

We’ll be sure to keep you updated…