In Pakistan, the practice of animal testing operates without a clear and comprehensive legal and institutional structure. Despite the significant use of animal testing in biomedical studies, pharmaceutical and veterinary research, vaccine development, toxicological research, and industrial testing, Pakistan has no comprehensive national framework specifically regulating the scientific use of animals. Factors such as the lack of reliable government statistics, the absence of a dedicated national authority responsible for regulating animal experimentation, the absence of reporting systems, and the lack of a specific regulatory body have made it difficult to assess how commonly animal experiments are carried out. Moreover, the absence of standards for reporting animal experiments raises a number of legal issues: without systematic records of animal experiments, it becomes difficult to challenge the manner in which these experiments are performed and whether they comply with the ethical standards of scientific research.

When compared with current international requirements, the shortcomings of Pakistan’s legal framework become apparent. In Pakistan, around 31 institutions of higher education offer studies in animal sciences, veterinary medicine, biomedical studies, and other related subjects. However, there are no clear legal requirements for these institutions to establish Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs), institutional ethics committees, or similar bodies with the authority to review animal studies and approve animal experiments. Furthermore, the laws of the country lack regulations requiring the application of the principles of Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement, endorsed internationally and used globally to replace animals with alternative methods where possible, reduce the number of animals to the minimum necessary, and refine procedures to minimize pain and suffering during experiments. The absence of relevant legal provisions makes it possible to conduct animal experiments without adequately assessing the necessity or proportionality of the experiments to be conducted.

Animal testing and research occurs in various types of institutes, veterinary and agricultural universities, medical schools, pharmacy schools, pharmaceutical companies, biomedical research laboratory facilities, industrial testing facilities, and specialist facilities that manufacture vaccines and anti-venoms. Veterinary universities, along with agricultural universities like the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) and Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University (PMAS-UAAR), as well as the agricultural and veterinary universities of Sindh and other parts of Pakistan, have been conducting experiments on animals in their studies and research programs for a long time. The issue became a matter of public concern in 2022 when footage emerged showing dogs being operated on in the veterinary institutions.

One of the most contentious forms of animal experimentation is live-animal surgery. Reports and activist campaigns have claimed that stray canines, and even some owned pets, were captured and subjected to surgeries for........

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