Protests Against Animal Experimentation Sites Have Been Outlawed – The Law Explained
On 14 January, 2026, MPs quietly voted in favour of banning protests against sites that experiment on animals.
This is an unacceptable attack on our fundamental right to free speech. PETA is seriously concerned about what this will mean not only for our right to protest, but also for the millions of animals languishing out of sight in laboratories all over the country.
Restricting Protest
In recent years, the Government has controversially tightened protest laws, giving police stronger powers to curb disruptions to key infrastructure covering major roads, transport systems, energy supply, and other critical infrastructure, drawing criticism from civil liberties and human rights organisations. Now, they are targeting protests against animal testing facilities.
Using powers in the Public Order Act 2023, the Government has introduced amendments that designate life sciences infrastructure as ‘key national infrastructure’.
Risk of Imprisonment
Any act which interferes with or causes delays to the operation of key national infrastructure could be treated as a criminal offence, punishable by up to one year’s imprisonment or an unlimited fine. This could include online forms of protest, too.
For the purposes of the regulation, the government define life sciences infrastructure as:
- Facilities involved in pharmaceutical research or development, or the manufacturing of medicinal products or devices, or;
- Facilities used for or in connection with activities regulated under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
This means that facilities that conduct animal testing or breed animals for the testing industry are protected from protests that disrupt their normal operations. When questioned, Sarah Jones, Minister of State for the Home Office, explained that this “amendment is designed to address only certain behaviours impacting the Life Sciences sector. It does not ban protests”.
Protesting against the topic of animal testing or the conduct of cruel experiments on animals is not banned.
It is essential that people retain the right to protest the use of animals in experiments. These victims cannot speak out or, resist abuse themselves, so it is imperative that others can do so on their behalf. PETA will continue to oppose all forms of animal experimentation.
Animals Tormented in Laboratories
All across the country, animals are being sliced open, injected, starved, electrocuted, mutilated, deprived of water, caged in barren conditions, and killed in horrific ways in experiments. Mice, rats, fish, dogs, pigs, horses, monkeys, rabbits, and chickens are all among the animals used.
Someone, Not Something
Every single animal used in experiments is someone, not something, who can feel pain just like we do. They are languishing behind closed doors in laboratories, where experimenters can subject them to painful experiments away from public view. Animal testing proves itself to be futile again and again – 90% of “highly promising” basic research findings, most of which involve tests on animals, fail to become routinely used treatments within 20 years.
Animal-Free Science Is the Future
The government’s crackdown on protests is particularly concerning given that it came just weeks after the roadmap to end experiments on animals was released. The government should be putting every available resource into enacting this plan – not punishing those who clearly support it.
There are so many superior methods to experiments on animals, including organs-on-chips, computer models, and AI. These are already being used by innovative and forward-thinking scientists all over the world. Experiments on animals should be a thing of the past.
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