About Cruelty Free International

Cruelty Free International is the leading organisation working to create a world where nobody wants or believes we need to experiment on animals.

Our dedicated team are experts in their fields, combining award-winning campaigning, political lobbying, pioneering undercover investigations, scientific and legal expertise and corporate responsibility.  Educating, challenging and inspiring others across the globe to respect and protect animals, we investigate and expose the reality of life for animals in laboratories, challenge decision-makers to make a positive difference for animals, and champion better science and cruelty free living.

We are widely respected as an authority on animal testing issues and are frequently called on by governments, the media, corporations and official bodies for advice or expert opinion.  We work professionally, building relationships with politicians, business leaders and officials, analysing legislation and challenging decision-making panels around the globe to act as the voice for animals in laboratories.

With a history spanning over 100 years, Cruelty Free International has achieved so much for animals. Bringing the issue to public attention with our dynamic and determined approach, we have inspired generations of politicians, decision-makers and compassionate people to make a difference for animals used in experiments.  As the problem has grown, we have stepped up to meet the challenge across the world, placing the issue on the global agenda for the first time.  We have saved millions of animals from a life of suffering in laboratories, and together we can do so much more. 

Established in 1898, Cruelty Free International is firmly rooted in the early social justice movement.  Our founder, Frances Power Cobbe, was a formidable women’s rights campaigner and philanthropist.  Previously known as the ‘British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection’ or ‘BUAV’, today Cruelty Free International is the leading organisation working globally to consign animal experiments to the history books. 

We receive no government or lottery funding and rely entirely on the generosity of our supporters to continue our work for animals.  Please make a donation and help us end animal experiments worldwide.

Cruelty Free International is not a registered charity, which allows us to campaign freely to bring an end to animal testing worldwide. Our sister organisation Cruelty Free International Trust is a registered charity (Charity No. 1081183) which works to research and promote non animal scientific methods.