Medical and scientific organisations around the world agree that animals are essential in scientific research, for developing medicines and safety testing.
"We rely on animal research to help us learn more about how the body works.
"Animal studies are always used alongside other types of research such as cell and tissue culture. Computer-modelling, human patients and volunteers are also crucial but some questions can only be answered though research on a living animal.
"We could not give a human cancer to study it but we can study cancer development in mice, and mice that have been modified by adding human genes are even better models for disease development.