Our statement on the use of animals in research

Crohn’s & Colitis UK is a member of the Association of Medical Research Charities and alongside many other medical research charities we support their position on animal research along with the Concordat on Openness in Animal Research. As such, we have committed to be open and clear about the use of animals in the research that we fund. All grant applications that we receive are put through a rigorous peer review process to help us decide which applications to fund. Very few of the applications we receive are for medical research involving animals, and we would only fund research involving the use of animals if there is no feasible alternative.

The UK has one of the most rigorous systems in the world for regulating animal research and requires permissions from both central government and local ethical reviews to conduct research involving animals. As part of this approval process, each medical research project using animals must be examined using the National Centre for the Replacement Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research 3Rs:

• Replace the use of animals with alternative research methods and where possible avoid the use of animals altogether
• Reduce the number of animals used
• Refine how animal-based experiments are carried out to minimise any suffering and to improve animal welfare

We are committed to these principles and researchers are constantly seeking ways to develop techniques which use humans, cells, or computers, which we hope will one day completely eliminate the need to use animals.