India’s Animal Testing Rules: Are we making cruelty legal? | In Focus Podcast

The draft Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Control and Supervision of Experiment, Breeding and Trading of Laboratory Animals) Rules, 2026 was published last month.The main objectives of the new rules are summarised in the three Rs – replace, reduce and refine. That is, replace animals with other scientifically satisfactory methods where possible; reduce the number of animals to the bare minimum; and refine the experiments to minimise animal suffering.Animal rights activists, however, claim that the amended rules weaken, instead of strengthening oversight of tests that use animals. They also point out that the rules make it easier to source community strays or wild life for testing purposes. How serious are these concerns, and what changes are necessary so that the rules serve their intended objectives?Guests: Surat Parvatam, Senior Program Director (Research and Toxicology) at Humane World for AnimalsHost: G Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The HinduProducer and editor: Jude Francis WestonFor more episodes of In Focus: Published - November 09, 2026 06:00 pm IST