An appeal by Pure Animal Lovers PAL Welfare Foundation

Imagine spending your entire life inside a laboratory, never knowing when you will be taken out of your cage, what procedure you will be subjected to, or whether the pain will ever end.

For thousands of animals used in experiments, this is a reality they cannot escape.

And now, instead of moving towards stronger protection and more humane scientific methods, India is considering new rules that raise serious concerns about weakening the safeguards meant to protect these animals.

We, Pure Animal Lovers PAL Welfare Foundation, strongly oppose the Draft Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Control and Supervision of Experiment, Breeding and Trading of Laboratory Animals) Rules, 2026, notified under G.S.R. 864(E), and demand their withdrawal.

Our objection is not to scientific progress. It is to the possibility of making animal experimentation easier without ensuring equally strong independent scrutiny and protection against suffering.

Under Rule 11, the proposed changes would allow institutional ethics committees greater authority to approve experiments categorised as mild or moderate. But who decides what an animal experiences as mild or moderate? And should institutions conducting experiments be given greater freedom to approve those same experiments without prior central scrutiny?

The draft also raises concerns about exceptions involving stray and feral animals under Rule 5(3). We cannot accept any provision that may leave vulnerable animals exposed to capture or use in laboratories. India's community animals already face abandonment, violence and neglect. They must not become another source of experimental subjects.

Rule 21(2), concerning the procurement of certain animals from open markets or other sources, raises equally serious questions. Where will these animals come from? How will their origins be verified? What safeguards will prevent illegal capture, trafficking or cruelty during transport?

We are also deeply concerned about provisions relating to repeated use of animals in experiments, the adequacy of mandatory anaesthesia and pain-relief safeguards, and exemptions affecting the oversight of animal traders.

These are not minor administrative matters. Every gap in accountability can have real consequences for a living animal.

A rabbit cannot explain its pain. A monkey cannot object to being used repeatedly. A mouse cannot ask whether a non-animal method could have been used instead. A dog cannot question how it ended up inside a laboratory.

That responsibility belongs to us, and especially to the authorities entrusted with protecting them.

The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, was enacted to prevent unnecessary pain and suffering. Any rules made under it should advance that purpose.

India has the scientific talent and resources to invest more seriously in validated non-animal methods, improved research standards, transparent oversight and stronger accountability.

**We are therefore asking the Government of India to withdraw the Draft Laboratory Animal Rules, 2026, in their present form, rather than proceed with provisions that could weaken animal protection.**

We urge the authorities to retain meaningful independent scrutiny of animal experiments, prevent the misuse of provisions concerning stray and feral animals, ensure strict control over animal sourcing and trading, strengthen protections against pain and repeated suffering, and give genuine priority to scientifically validated alternatives.

We also call for wider consultation with animal welfare organisations, independent experts, veterinarians and the scientific community before any replacement rules are considered.

*An animal's inability to speak should never become a reason for the law to protect it less.*

We appeal to every concerned citizen, medical professional, veterinarian, researcher, student and animal lover to support this petition.

Please add your signature and help us make sure that the concerns raised over these proposed rules are heard before they become law.

*Pure Animal Lovers PAL Welfare Foundation*

*The last date for submitting formal objections to the draft is 5 November 2026. Signing this petition does not replace sending an individual objection to CCSEA at cpcsea-mef@gov.in.*