Mark Purdey animal feed dates back to at least 1926. In the 1970s attention was directed within MAFF to the danger that this practice would result in the spread of infectious diseases. The diseases considered were those caused by conventional viral and bacterial organisms. No consideration appears to have been given to the risk that scrapie might be recycled in sheep, or even transmitted to other farm animals. This may seem surprising. The answer probably lies in the fact that half a century had elapsed without any indication that animal feed containing ovine protein was infecting sheep or any other animal." Purdey
Alternatives to animal testing performed on intact animals, the maintenance of cells in culture normally requires the use of animal-derived serum. Although exact figures are difficult to obtain, some have estimated that one million fetal cows are sacrificed each year to obtain the world's supply of fetal bovine serum, used to grow cultured cells. Skin irritation and skin corrosion refer to localized toxic effects resulting from a topical exposure of the skin to a substance. Human skin equivalent tests can be used to replace animal-based corrosive and irritative studies. EpiDerm from Mattek and EpiSkin and SkinEthic RHE model are derived from human skin cells