Pune: Fergusson Students, Animal Rights Groups Demand Withdrawal of Draft Animal Testing Rules 2026
Reported by Radhika Sharma
Pune, 29th October 2026: Students from Fergusson College, along with animal rights groups Simba Animal Save and Peedus People, held a march and petition-signing campaign in Pune on Thursday, 29th October, demanding the withdrawal of the Draft Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Control and Supervision of Experiment, Breeding and Trading of Laboratory Animals) Rules, 2026, in their present form.
The march began at the main gate of Fergusson College and continued to Kalakar Katta. Participants raised concerns about safeguards for animals used in experiments and shared a QR code linking to an online petition seeking to withdraw the draft rules.
One key concern raised by the campaigners is that an Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC) can approve experiments classified as mild or moderate without referring them to the central Committee for the Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CCSEA). They questioned what independent safeguards would prevent experiments involving serious animal suffering from being classified under these categories to avoid central scrutiny.
Mihika, a second-year Fashion Department student at Fergusson College, said alternatives to animal testing include organ-on-a-chip systems, 3D cell cultures, human tissue models and AI-based in-silico modelling.
“There are alternative measures like organ-on-a-chip systems, 3D cell cultures, human tissue models and even AI-based in-silico modelling that can be used to replace animal testing. One of the major drawbacks is that this experimentation can also be harmful to humans; additionally, this process is also cruel and has a high risk of endangering animals, ” she said.
Pooja Agrawal from Peedus People raised concerns about the proposed criteria for approving animal experiments and the classification of pain levels.
“This draft includes new criteria for approving animal experimentation, based on the level of pain involved, which is divided into three broad categories: mild, moderate and severe. Recommendations and data for these categories will be provided by the labs to the central committee. This, in turn, makes the accountability and transparency of the actual process even harder to track,” she said.
The campaigners have also raised concerns about provisions relating to street animals and wildlife protected under existing laws. They have called for stronger independent oversight and greater investment in scientifically validated alternatives to animal testing.
The organisers have urged the government to withdraw the draft rules in their present form and prioritise research methods that do not involve animal suffering.
