Animal experimentation
Tests whose cruelty no longer needs to be proven
Every year, millions of animals are still subjected to painful and stressful experiments in French laboratories, held in tiny cages where they have to endure burns, samples taken, electrodes implanted, various injections, tumours and serious diseases induced, before being killed.
While carefully maintaining total opacity about these practices, the animal experimentation industry maintains constant propaganda claiming that the framework is strict, that the animals do not suffer and that research cannot do without these horrors.
Yet French and European regulations, which are already very minimal, are not even followed properly by the laboratories, which are almost never penalised by the public authorities, even in the event of serious infringement. As for alternatives, while those that do exist are not always used, the development of new animal-free methods and reflection on the ethics of research are largely under-funded.
One Voice cannot tolerate sentient beings being deprived of their prospects of joy and relegated to the status of laboratory equipment. We do not have the right to exploit them in this way, because their lives belong to them.
Why are we fighting against animal experimentation?
Dogs
Since the end of the 1990s, we have been fighting for the closure of the two major French laboratory dog farms in Mézilles and Gannat, now owned by the US company Marshall.
Primates
Our fight to abolish the use of primates in experiments concerns the breeders (in particular in Mauritius and Vietnam), the importers (in particular the University of Strasbourg) and the laboratories themselves (whose shameful practices we reveal and whose closure we demand).
Other animals
Our concerns do not stop with large animals. We are also taking action on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of rodents, rabbits and fish, addressing the Ministry of Research directly to demand a ban on particularly cruel projects and the Ministry of Agriculture to press for controls and sanctions.
Transparency
One of the keys to the fight against animal experimentation is access to information. While the public authorities and the industry resist, we do not hesitate to go to court to obtain inspection reports, images and animal tracking sheets, so that we can better inform the public.
Collectives and advocacy
One Voice represents the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE) and Cruelty Free Europe in France, and is working with a group of French associations to take action within the FC3R Centre.
We are also in dialogue with French and European politicians to get things moving.
Key figures
An alarming fact
Our proposals
- Draw up a plan for phasing out animal experimentation.
- Massively fund the development of new animal-free testing and research methods.
- Achieve real transparency with free access to official documents (and in particular systematic publication of inspection reports).
- Prohibit "severe" procedures.
- Include animal rights associations and specialists in alternative methods on project assessment committees.
Resources
Discover all our resources on the subject of animal experimentation
History
Nearly 30 years of fighting and winning against animal experimentation
July 2026
In response to the absurdity of the proposed expansion of the Rousset primate facility, One Voice went to the European Parliament in Strasbourg to alert MEPs, during a meeting of the Intergroup on Animal Welfare and Conservation, to the fact that this project will perpetuate the exploitation of primates in laboratories and hinder all the European changes currently being rolled out. We were able to share our concerns so that our message is now being heard at the very heart of the European institutions.
July 2026
Thanks to our campaign, ethics committees will no longer be able to get away with a few vague phrases to authorise the unacceptable. In 2022, our team uncovered a staggering experimental project: an experiment involving 27,430 rodents, all of which were killed at the end. After a long battle to obtain documents that were, in fact, in the public domain, our analysis confirmed what we had suspected: there was no serious evidence to justify these thousands of deaths. The file even mentioned alternative methods. On 3 July 2026, the Paris Administrative Court of Appeal ruled in our favour.
June 2026
The European Union has published a roadmap aimed at gradually replacing these tests with animal-free methods, which are also more relevant. This is a significant step forward, achieved after years of campaigning by citizens and organisations, in which One Voice is fully involved. For One Voice, a roadmap will not be enough. France must now translate this European ambition into action: invest heavily in alternative methods, update the regulations and adopt a genuine national plan to phase out animal testing.
March 2026
This is a major step forward in Europe, the result of many years of campaigning: the European Parliament is amending its regulations on detergents for domestic or industrial use. From now on, the use of animal testing is banned for the development of new products in Europe. As part of the European coalition Cruelty Free Europe, One Voice has played an active role in driving this advocacy work. This has involved engaging with policy-makers, confronting industry with the reality of its practices, informing the public and documenting the suffering of animals.
March 2026
One Voice, alongside the European Coalition to End Animal Experimentation (ECEAE), took action once again in late 2025. Our campaign has borne fruit: from 1 January 2027, the synthetic alternative, recombinant factor C (rFC), will be listed in the Pharmacopoeia as an official method. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) now explicitly recommends that manufacturers abandon the cruel horseshoe crab test and use modern, animal-free testing methods. A wonderful, historic collective victory that will save thousands of horseshoe crabs!
February 2026
In the wake of the huge outcry caused by our revelations regarding the CNRS’s plans to expand its primatology centre in Rousset using more than 30 million euros of public money, the CNRS has referred the matter to COMETS, its ethics committee. This independent group of specialists had not examined the subject of animal experimentation for 30 years. Its conclusions have sent shockwaves through the world of research and among advocates of animal experimentation. The Rousset project is being called into question; one member even expressed her total opposition to it. The committee is calling for the so-called ‘necessity’ of using primates to be subjected to a genuine, independent scientific review and is calling for greater transparency and oversight. This is a highly significant opinion, for which One Voice was consulted to share its expertise on ethical issues and, in particular, the lack of transparency in laboratories.
November 2025
After taking legal action on two occasions to secure greater transparency, One Voice has finally obtained documents from the CNRS and the University of Aix-Marseille. These documents reveal the horrific ordeal endured by several marmosets and macaques. Behind the walls of these laboratories, sometimes several generations of the same family are used in experiments, die as a result, or are killed there. The documents obtained reveal numerous unjustified deaths. Thanks to One Voice’s investigative work and legal action, names, lineages and stories are emerging from behind the tattoo numbers and statistics of animal experimentation.
July 2025
Following yet another legal victory, One Voice has obtained previously inaccessible documents relating to the dog breeding facility in Mézilles, where dogs are bred for experimental purposes. And what they reveal is chilling. A young beagle exploited for breeding, puppies under five months old transported for hours in cramped crates, dogs deemed ‘of no further use’ put down. And, against this backdrop, breaches identified during inspections and a persistent lack of transparency regarding the fate of these animals. For years, One Voice has been investigating; every document wrested from secrecy helps to shed light on a reality: these dogs are treated as soulless tools whose lives depend on their ‘usefulness’.
March 2025
Under the guise of ‘scientific training’, systemic violence continues. Every year, thousands of animals are used and then killed for the purpose of learning technical procedures, as if they were nothing more than disposable equipment. Healthy mice, rabbits, dogs, pigs and horses are subjected to procedures, surgery and suffering, without any benefit to them. One Voice reveals a chilling reality: even animals that are not used are condemned to death, in the name of profitability. This is an archaic practice, given that modern and ethical alternatives already exist.
December 2024
At the Pasteur Institute, inspections have revealed repeated breaches of the law without any meaningful sanctions. Animals are crammed into overcrowded cages in breach of current regulations. Shocking practices have been documented, such as the brutal killing of mice. This is because, at the end of the experiments, they are almost always killed. Even ‘control’ animals, which are not used in the experiments, are put to death. The animals, often left unattended, suffer from loneliness and distress. Despite damning reports and a temporary suspension, the experiments continue. The organisation condemns the impunity enjoyed by these laboratories and calls for meaningful sanctions. One Voice believes that alternatives exist, but are not being utilised.
September 2024
Following a court ruling, One Voice has finally obtained documents relating to the mouse-ayes at the National Museum of Natural History. These small primates, bred in their hundreds, are used as ‘models’ – living consumables – for their experiments. The documents reveal worrying practices: procedures being circumvented, suffering downplayed, and a persistent lack of transparency. Some experiments are reclassified without acknowledging their severity, in order to allow the animals to be reused. Grey areas remain, with projects that are either undeclared or not reported to the authorities. One Voice condemns this opaque system and demands complete transparency.
September 2024
Newborn piglets are used as disposable ‘equipment’ at the CICE in Clermont-Ferrand to train medical staff, including surgeons. After these exercises, they are systematically killed. Our investigation also reveals the stages of their suffering: they are selected, transported in appalling conditions, and then exploited during surgical procedures. It also reveals that the local farm which produces and supplies these test subjects has itself been denounced for its violent practices; One Voice has therefore lodged a complaint. The organisation has referred the matter to the authorities and the courts to put an end to these practices. It calls for an end to animal experimentation for medical and scientific training and urges the use of existing alternative teaching methods.
July 2024
Through investigative work and the acquisition of numerous official documents, One Voice has revealed what goes on behind the scenes at the SILABE laboratory at the University of Strasbourg. The inspection reports and monitoring records analysed by the organisation describe the appalling daily lives of macaques kept in captivity and sold for experimental purposes. This facility is of great strategic importance to laboratories and is, in fact, a veritable hub for the trade in laboratory primates in France and across Europe. By making this information public, One Voice highlights the lack of transparency surrounding animal experimentation and draws attention to the cruelty suffered by these primates and the abuses inherent in this highly lucrative system.
July 2024
The courts have once again ruled against the National Museum of Natural History and ordered it to hand over its documents on mouse-lemurs. In this laboratory, hundreds of these small primates are bred to be used and killed in experiments. Despite an initial ruling, the Museum persisted in concealing the truth. Thanks to One Voice, transparency is finally being achieved. The judges are demanding the handover of reports, assessments and data on the suffering inflicted on these mammals.
July 2024
Through its extensive monitoring work, One Voice has discovered that the French government plans to allocate more than 30 million euros of public funds to expand a primate breeding facility in Rousset, in the Bouches-du-Rhône, intended for use by laboratories. The organisation therefore strongly condemns this project and is bringing it to the attention of the general public, elected representatives and the press. This is an anachronistic project, made all the more shocking by the fact that public money is being used to perpetuate these cruel practices, which run counter to the spirit of the future. Alongside international and local organisations, One Voice is calling on the authorities to halt this project, demanding that public funding be redirected towards the development of modern, ethical, animal-free research methods.
June 2024
The courts have once again ruled against the National Museum of Natural History and ordered it to hand over its documents on mouse lemurs to One Voice. In this laboratory, hundreds of these small primates are bred to be used and killed in experiments. Despite an initial ruling, the Museum persisted in concealing the truth. Thanks to One Voice, transparency is finally being achieved. The judges have ordered the handover of reports, assessments and data on the suffering inflicted on these mammals.
June 2024
Thanks to a fierce legal battle for transparency, One Voice has succeeded in securing the public release of previously unseen footage of the forced swimming test carried out on mice at an Inserm laboratory at the University of Bordeaux. The footage shows panicked mice struggling to survive, desperately trying to cling to the smooth walls before becoming exhausted. By making this footage public, One Voice is shattering the systematic lack of transparency in laboratories and exposing one of the most controversial practices in animal experimentation – one whose relevance is questioned and which has already been abandoned by several companies and laboratories.
June 2024
A major breakthrough has been achieved in Europe: pyrogenic testing on rabbits is now banned across all Member States. These cruel experiments involve injecting substances into the ears of thousands of animals to induce a fever, before killing them to analyse the results. For years, One Voice has been condemning the continued use of these protocols rather than the development of reliable alternatives that do not cause suffering to living beings. Animal-free methods are already well-established, such as in vitro tests based on human cells.
May 2024
One Voice and its international partners are sounding the alarm following the discovery of cases of tuberculosis amongst macaques used in animal experimentation in Europe – a practice that is nevertheless presented as safe and controlled. The incident is said to have begun with a monkey imported via the Netherlands, after which several dozen animals tested positive. Our investigation shows that the conditions under which macaques are kept in captivity encourage the spread of serious diseases that endanger both animals and humans. One Voice has called on the French authorities to ensure full transparency regarding the extent of the outbreak. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
November 2023
Through the #SingesDeLabo investigation, One Voice exposes the reality behind the global trade in primates destined for laboratories. By successfully infiltrating six out of the seven long-tailed macaque breeding farms in Mauritius, our campaign has revealed what goes on behind the scenes at these farms, which operate with virtually no oversight. One Voice is thus exposing this lucrative international system.
2023
One Voice reveals what goes on behind the scenes at NeuroSpin, a laboratory run by the French Atomic Energy Commission, which has been breaching regulations for over ten years and whose negligence has caused the deaths of several macaques. We are taking legal action to demand its closure.
2023
One Voice is revealing what goes on behind the scenes at NeuroSpin, the Atomic Energy Commission laboratory which has been breaking regulations for over ten years and whose negligence has caused the death of several macaques. We are going to court to demand its closure.
2023
The European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics, launched by One Voice and its European partners, has obtained 1.2 million valid signatures. The European Commission's response was disappointing and the fight goes on.
2019
Victory in Mézilles. The Dijon administrative court has overturned the prefectoral order authorising the Mézilles dog farm to expand. The beagles and golden retrievers bred there are destined for laboratory experiments. We are continuing to campaign for the closure of this kennel.
2018
One Voice and its partners Cruelty Free International and Soko Tierschutz have obtained justice for Léa, Hugo, Tom, Lisa, Max, Mila and Lucie! The three researchers from the Max Planck Institute in Tübingen (Germany), implicated following our filmed investigation over several months and a joint complaint, have been convicted.
2009
One Voice's investigators have brought back shocking images from Cambodia which reveal the horror of monkey farms for laboratories, particularly in France.
2000
One Voice's investigators infiltrate a laboratory that subcontracts cosmetic and chemical testing. There they filmed the nightmare experienced by rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, cats and dogs.