27,430 animals condemned: One Voice cracks down on the lack of transparency of the laboratories
For years, a simple, terse statement issued by the ethics committees was enough to inflict unspeakable suffering on lab animals. The Administrative Court of Appeal in Paris has just issued these ethics committees with a stern admonishment. Thanks to our campaign, they will no longer be able to rely on a few vague phrases to authorise the unacceptable. A historic victory for transparency and for animals.
In 2022, our team uncovered a staggering experimental project. To test future treatments for epilepsy, it announced the use of 27,430 rodents: 8,700 mice, 17,730 rats and 1,000 Mongolian gerbils. All of these are sentient, social animals, capable of experiencing complex emotions such as fear, stress or pleasure. Animals whose welfare is governed by European regulations and the 3Rs principle, yet 26,040 of them were destined to undergo procedures classified as ‘severe’. Put simply: weeks of carefully planned pain and distress, with no outcome other than death.
Various methods, all based on suffering
The protocol divided the animals into ten groups. The methods used to induce convulsions varied. Some were administered substances followed by electric shocks to the cornea, in the ears or directly to the brain. Others endured injections of substances, while still others underwent surgery to have electrodes implanted in their brains. Some of them were conditioned to have a seizure upon the very first electrical stimulation. Twice a day, five days a week for two weeks, they were electrocuted to make their brains more sensitive to stimulation, to the point where a seizure was triggered by the very first shock before they were administered the substances.
Regardless of which group they were in, their fate was sealed. The animal would suffer an epileptic fit and be euthanised immediately at the end of the test. If it survived, it would be used in further experiments. None of these 27,430 animals survived; they were all killed.
Months of struggle for mere documents
These atrocities were supposed to remain hidden. We refused to accept this state of affairs. To obtain the authorisation documents and assessment reports – which are, after all, public records – it took a struggle lasting several months, and we had to refer the matter to the Commission for Access to Administrative Documents (CADA). Its analysis confirmed what we had suspected: there was no serious evidence to justify the experimentation on more than 27,000 animals. The file even mentioned alternative methods such as neuron cultures and the study of brain samples. These were dismissed in a peremptory decision without further argument. The Ministry of Higher Education and Research approved the experiment without demanding further justification, taking the laboratory’s statements at face value. We challenged this authorisation in court.
A game-changing victory
On 3 July 2026, the Administrative Court of Appeal in Paris ruled in our favour. Its verdict is crystal clear and highlights an obvious truth: when it comes to inflicting such torture on sentient beings, ethics committees cannot merely rely on generalities. The balance between the suffering inflicted and the expected ‘benefits’ must be clearly assessed, the absence of alternatives verified, and the number of animals used justified.
Yet, for far too long, ethics committees have functioned merely as rubber-stamp bodies. Virtually no project is rejected, and France remains Europe’s leading country for animal experimentation, at the same time as European regulations are evolving, requiring Member States to draw up a strategy to phase out animal experimentation.
From now on, authorisations granted to laboratories will have to be properly justified. The suffering of animals can no longer be concealed behind a few hastily ticked boxes. This victory provides us with a powerful legal tool. It marks a step back for impunity and the code of silence. And it finally opens a breach for all animals who are victims of tests and protocols.
27,430 animals condemned: One Voice cracks down on the lack of transparency of the laboratories
An end to impunity: laboratories will finally have to justify the suffering inflicted on animals.