Pledge to support animal-free research.

Most Australians remember the horrific images of rabbits with red, swollen eyes and chemical burns — scenes that helped end cosmetic testing on animals. When those laws passed, many assumed the cruelty had stopped. It hasn’t.

While cosmetics are now ‘off limits’, around the world, animals are still being used in the safety testing of new drugs, industrial chemicals, and everyday house-hold products. These often prolonged and painful toxicity tests persist despite drug testing failing most of the time[1], and modern, human-based science predicting chemical safety far better[2].

And toxicity testing is just the tip of the iceberg. Globally, millions of animals are used in medical and scientific experiments that are not only cruel, but they are also unreliable. Despite years of animal testing, over 90% of animal-based research never helps human patients[3].

But a new generation of science is offering hope — as scientists and regulators turn to innovative, human-based technologies that are proving safer, more accurate and far more humane than animal testing[4].

Read on to learn the truth about this secretive industry and how you can help build a future where science protects people without harming animals.

Despite better, human-relevant research methods existing, hundreds of millions of animals world-wide are abused as test subjects in labs for research ranging from chemical safety tests to the development of new drugs and vaccines.

Look around any home — the kitchen, the laundry, the bathroom medicine cabinet — and you’ll find products that, at some stage, were tested on animals.

Toxicity testing assesses how harmful a substance might be, for humans, animals, or the environment. To do this, animals are deliberately poisoned with chemicals, drugs, pesticides, and some household products, often in escalating amounts to determine the level that causes sickness and death. These tests bear little resemblance to how a human would interact with these drugs and chemicals, yet animals are forced to consume large, repeated doses until they fall sick or die[5].

These cruel tests can involve:

• Force-feeding chemicals through stomach tubes
• Applying substances to shaved skin or directly into eyes
• Injections or inhalation of toxic substances
• Pregnant animals being poisoned to study effects on their young

Tests can run for months at a time and are typically carried out without pain relief, as easing the suffering of the animals can ‘interfere’ with results. In the end, animals will be killed so their organs can be examined.

Animal experiments are pitched as safeguarding human health, but the evidence is overwhelming that they consistently fail to do so. 9 in 10 new drugs that pass animal tests still fail in human trials[6] — usually because the animal data didn’t predict human responses.

One of the most infamous failures was TGN1412, a drug developed for leukaemia and arthritis. It appeared safe in mice, rabbits, and monkeys, but when tested on healthy volunteers, it triggered a catastrophic immune reaction that caused multiple organ failure[7].

And even when drugs do make it through to market, animal testing has repeatedly failed to protect people from harm:

• Thalidomide caused devastating birth defects in tens of thousands of babies despite being found safe in 10 strains of rats; 11 breeds of rabbit; 2 breeds of dog; 3 strains of hamsters; 8 species of primates; and various cats, armadillos, guinea pigs, pigs, and ferrets[8].
• Vioxx, used to treat pain and inflammation, was cleared in monkeys, rats, dogs, guinea pigs and rabbits yet went on to cause an estimated 60,000 excess deaths from heart attacks and strokes before it was withdrawn[9].
• Isuprel for the treatment of asthma caused over 3,500 deaths in Great Britain alone, despite safety in rats, guinea pigs, dogs and monkeys, all of whom had received doses far exceeding those administered in humans[10].

And even today, drugs like Ozempic, which sailed through animal trials, are revealing serious human side effects[11].

Animals are also widely used in biomedical research — by universities and medical institutions — to study human diseases, test treatments, and train surgeons.

But there is a fundamental flaw: many human diseases don’t naturally occur in animals. Researchers artificially create conditions in mice, rats and other animals, but these models cannot capture the true complexity of human illness. The results rarely translate to people[12].

Some of the most striking failures include:

• Alzheimer’s: After 30 years of “cures” in mouse models, more than 99% of drugs have failed in people. Scientists now describe Alzheimer’s as one of the most striking failures in modern translational medicine, with decades of success in mice and rats producing no effective human therapy[13].
• Stroke: More than 1,000 treatments worked in animals, yet none have proven effective for people beyond existing clot-busting drugs[14].
• Parkinson’s disease: Decades of artificially induced Parkinsonism in rats and mice have delivered no cure, and animal models still cannot replicate critical non-motor symptoms seen in humans[15].
• Cancer: Billions have been spent targeting tumours in mice, yet these studies have not solved metastasis — the spread of cancer that kills most patients. Even the most promising anti-cancer therapies in mice and rats routinely fail in human trials[16].
• Sepsis: At least 150 drugs have succeeded in mice, yet none have helped humans, because their immune systems simply do not respond the way ours do[17].

Biomedical research has sent medical science down costly, misleading paths, delaying real breakthroughs that could have come from human-relevant research[18]. And despite being proven unreliable, billions of dollars continue to be invested.

Beyond testing drugs and chemicals, animals are used in education and training, and what’s known as ‘basic’ or ‘pure’ research. This is where open-ended experiments probe questions about biology or behaviour, without necessarily having any human benefit.

• In neuroscience labs, monkeys may be restrained in chairs so scientists can study visual or motor responses. Some have holes drilled into their skulls so electrodes can record brain activity over months or years[19].
• Rats are often used to study fear and anxiety. They may be given electric shocks when exposed to certain sounds, creating an association of fear[20]. Researchers then monitor changes in brain activity, sometimes by surgically implanting electrodes[21]. The rats live in a constant cycle of stress until they are no longer “useful” and are killed.

This type of research can keep animals locked in cycles of testing without ever leading to real-world applications. They are not only subjected to invasive procedures but also live deprived, caged lives. Their suffering is not confined to the moment of the experiment — suffering is their entire existence.

Behind every laboratory door are people whose wellbeing is also affected by these systems. Technicians and researchers carry the emotional burden of harming animals as part of their daily work. Studies show that this “caring–killing paradox” can lead to moral distress, PTSD-like symptoms, ‘burnout’ and depression[22]. A more humane, human-relevant research future doesn’t just spare animals — it frees people, too, from practices that conflict with their compassionate instincts.

Around the world, cutting-edge technologies are replacing outdated animal experiments with methods that are more accurate and directly relevant to humans. Known as New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), these innovations are already being used in regulatory testing, drug discovery and disease modelling[23].

Adopting NAMs isn’t just about replacing animals — they redefine research, offering faster, more effective and more ethical pathways to understanding human health and disease.

This is modern science that is better for animals and better for people.

Despite this, billions of dollars are still being poured into cruel and unreliable animal tests that fail time and again. It’s time for laws, funding and research priorities to catch up with the science and embrace approaches that truly serve both people and animals.

• Sign the pledge to stand for science without suffering.
• Share what you learn to help others understand that animal testing isn’t just cruel, it’s bad science.
• Choose cruelty-free products – see this list from Cruelty Free International.
• Support humane research – if you wish to donate to a charity, ensure it is not one that supports the use of animals in research. Here is a list of charities which have adopted a ‘no animal testing’ policy.
• Look after your own health – many experiments on animals are linked to diseases that can often be prevented.
• Ask about your medicines – your GP or pharmacist may know of natural or non-animal-tested alternatives. Even asking the question helps raise awareness and signal that demand for cruelty-free medicine is growing.