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Statistics

Statistics on the use of animals in scientific procedures in Great Britain.

Latest statistics

Statistics for 2007 available on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics website.

Statistics for 2007 - the main points

1. Just over 3.2 million scientific procedures were started in 2007, a rise of about 189,500 (6%) on 2006.  The increased animal use was mainly due to increases in the use of mice, fish and domestic fowl, whilst the use of most other species was down when compared to 2006.  The use of mice increased for fundamental research and breeding.  There was increased use of fish in applied studies for human medicine and protection of man, animals and the environment.  The use of domestic fowl increased for applied veterinary studies.

2. Mice, rats and other rodents were used in the majority of procedures; eighty three percent (83%) of the total.  Most of the remaining procedures used fish (10%), and birds (4%).

3. Dogs, cats, horses and non-human primates, afforded special protection by the Act, were collectively used in less than one percent of all procedures.

4. Approximately 4000 procedures used non-human primates, down 240 (6%) from 2006, due to a decrease in both old-world and new-world species (for details on primate species, see appendix B available on RDS website).

5. Over a third of all procedures in 2007 were accounted for by breeding procedures (37%), for the production of harmful mutant and genetically modified animals.  Mainly mice (93%) and fish (6%) were used in these procedures.

6. Around ninety-nine percent of procedures carried out on animals listed in Schedule 2 of the Act used animals acquired from designated sources in the United Kingdom.

7. Genetically normal animals were used in 1.73 million regulated procedures (54% of all procedures), up 86,200 (5%) on 2006 figures. This increase is associated with mice used in fundamental studies and fish used in safety studies.

8. Species with harmful genetic mutations were used in 315,600 regulated procedures (10% of all procedures), down 11,000 (3%) from 2006.  The majority of these procedures used rodents (91%); most of the remainder were fish or amphibians.

9. Genetically modified animals were used in 1.15 million regulated procedures up 114,400 (11%) representing thirty-six percent of all procedures for 2007, compared with thirty-four percent in 2006 and eight percent in 1995.  The vast majority (99%) of these procedures used mice and fish. 

10. Around thirty-nine percent of all procedures used some form of anaesthesia to alleviate the severity of the interventions.  For many of the remaining procedures the use of anaesthesia would have potentially increased the adverse effects of the procedure.

11. Non-toxicological procedures accounted for about eighty-seven percent of the procedures started in 2007. This contrasts with seventy-five percent of such procedures in 1995. The main areas of use were for immunological studies, pharmaceutical research and development, cancer research, anatomy and physiology. 

12. Procedures for toxicological purposes accounted for thirteen percent of all procedures started in 2007. This contrasts with twenty-five percent of such procedures in 1995. Since 1995 there has been a fall of thirty-nine percent. In 2007 the majority (78%) of procedures were for pharmaceutical safety and efficacy evaluation. Around seventy eight percent of toxicological procedures in 2007 used rodent species, while non-human primates were used in less than one percent. Of all the toxicological procedures conducted in 2007, eighty-seven percent were performed to conform to legal or regulatory requirements.

Statistics from previous years

The Home Secretary publishes statistics on the use of animals in scientific procedures in Great Britain annually, usually in July or August. Statistics for Northern Ireland are published separately.

 

 

Trends in animal use

There has been a significant reduction in the annual number of scientific procedures since 1976, this trend levelled out in the 1990s and in recent years there has been an increase in the number of procedures.  Since 2000 the number of procedures has risen by 7%, with the rise in breeding procedures accounting for a significant part of this increase. 

New molecular biology techniques are opening up new areas of research which will lead to an increase in the use of genetically modified animals. In addition, new regulatory proposals set out in the European Union Chemicals Strategy White Paper will, if agreed and implemented, also lead to increased use of animals for human health and safety purposes. 

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