We have joined forces with fellow animal protection organisations from across Europe to form a new network - Cruelty Free Europe. With over 10.5 million animals a year still suffering in experiments in European laboratories, the network is calling on the newly elected European Parliament to make ending animal testing a priority.

Cruelty Free Europe will be working with experts, politicians and supporters across the continent to come up with a comprehensive plan. Priorities will include reviewing EU funding of alternative tests, ensuring the cosmetics testing ban is upheld and securing an end to tests on dogs, cats and non-human primates.

At the launch in Brussels yesterday, where the group will be based, Geoffrey Deckers – chair of animal protection group Een Dier Een Vriend from the Netherlands and part of the new network – said: “The number of experiments taking place on animals in the European Union has remained high and more or less static for the past five years. That’s just not good enough. We want to see that number coming down significantly year on year. Ethically, morally and in the interests of better, humane and human-relevant science, it’s time that EU decision-makers made this issue a priority.”

Our CEO Michelle Thew said: “People across Europe are shocked to discover how many animals – including monkeys and dogs – continue to suffer in experiments in Europe. Cruelty Free Europe is going to turn the volume up on this issue and make sure change happens.”

For more information please visit https://crueltyfreeeurope.org/