Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 experiments licensed under the 1986 Act. The 1986 Act defined "regulated procedures" as animal experiments that could potentially cause "pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm", to "protected animals", which encompassed all living vertebrates other than humans, under the responsibility of humans. A 1993 amendment added a single invertebrate species, the common octopus ("Octopus vulgaris"), as a protected animal. The Act applied only to protected animals from halfway through their gestation or incubation periods (for mammals, birds and reptiles) or from when they became capable of independent feeding (for fish, amphibians and, the common octopuses). Primates, cats, dogs and horses had
Eurogroup for Animals for Animals was launched becoming the first coalition of animal welfare groups in Europe. It is also one of the longest established non-governmental organisations in Brussels. Over the years Eurogroup for Animals has grown to represent animal welfare organisations in nearly all countries of the European Union. It seized on the European Union’s expansion into central and east Europe to support animal welfare organisations there. International organisations such as International Fund for Animal Welfare, Compassion in World Farming and World Animal Protection are now also members of Eurogroup for Animals. Eurogroup for Animals Eurogroup for Animals is an organisation based