Adopt or Foster Ex-Laboratory Animals

You can make an immeasurable difference to the lives of animals formerly used in research laboratories. Rescue, foster or adopt through one of the below organisations and give them a second chance at at life.

The rehoming of animals after their use in research is not mandatory in Australia. In fact, very few animals ever leave the laboratory—most are either moved on for use in another experiment, or killed. We believe that every animal deserves the opportunity to live a happy and healthy life, and advocate for the mandatory rehoming of dogs and cats from research institutes through our Right to Release Campaign. If you agree, please support the campaign by signing our petition.

Why Animals in Research Deserve to be rehomed

The practice of using animals in research is not only ethically questionable but scientifically outdated. A recent study makes the ethical case that all healthy animals should be rehomed – no matter how small they are. They also deserve to be rehomed because they are sentient beings like us, capable of forming bonds, feeling joy and living rich lives beyond the laboratory. After all they’ve endured, they should have the chance to experience comfort, safety and love in a real home.

Listen to our podcast interview with Paula Wallace, Founder and Director of Liberty Foundation Australia:

” There are no good reasons to discriminate between rats, mice, chickens, dogs, cats, pigs, horses, fishes, frogs, snakes and non-human primates. Why put an effort into rehoming dogs and cats, while routinely killing redundant mice and rats? We should offer all redundant laboratory animals a longer life in good welfare, if possible (see also: [39]). The life of any healthy animal of a sentient species is worth the relatively small effort. “

Van Loo PLP, Janssens MRE. Why All Healthy Laboratory Animals Should Be Rehomed, No Matter How Small. Animals (Basel). 2023 Aug 28;13(17):2727. doi: 10.3390/ani13172727. PMID: 37684991; PMCID: PMC10486491.