Testing on live animals fell by 3% last year, data suggests

The number of tests carried out on live animals last year fell by 3%, new data shows.

Across Great Britain 2.68 million scientific procedures were carried out on animals in 2023 – down from 2.76 million in 2022 – representing the lowest number since 2001.

Data from the Home Office shows that experimental procedures (1.47 million) fell by 3%, and procedures for creation and breeding also decreased by 3% on the previous year.

Experimental tests made up some 55% of all procedures in 2023, the figures for England, Scotland and Wales show.

Mice, fish, birds or rats were used in the vast majority (95%) of procedures, and these animals have been the most used for more than a decade.

According to the data, procedures on specially protected species – cats, dogs, horses and non-human primates – accounted for use in 1.2% of experimental procedures in 2023.

Twenty-one dogs were used for the creation and breeding of genetically altered (GA) animals.

Experimental procedures were conducted for the purposes of basic research and the development of treatments, safety testing of pharmaceuticals and other substances.

Some 52% of experimental procedures were for basic research, and the top three research areas were the nervous system, the immune system and cancer.

Dr Mark Down, chief executive of the Royal Society of Biology, said: “The advancement of biological science and the development of biomedical treatments, for humans and animals alike, will require the regulated use of animals in science for the foreseeable future.

“Animal research remains a small but vital part of biomedical research dedicated to elucidating the mechanisms of infectious or non-communicable diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, stroke or dementia, or the testing of potential new treatments.”

Some animals may be used more than once in certain circumstances so the number of procedures carried out in a year does not equal the number of animals used.

Looking at the countries individually, the number of procedures in England and Scotland fell by 3% and 2% respectively in the last year.

The number of procedures that took place in Wales decreased by 19% compared with 2022.

Understanding Animal Research (UAR), an organisation which promotes open communications on the issue, said animal testing is a small but important part of the research into new medicines, vaccines and treatments for humans and animals.

According to UAR, 10 organisations accounted for more than half (54%) of all animal research in Britain last year.

They were the University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, the Francis Crick Institute, UCL, University of Edinburgh, the Medical Research Council, University of Manchester, King’s College London, University of Glasgow, and Imperial College London.

The 10 listed institutes were responsible for 1,435,009 procedures, and of these, more than 99% were carried out on mice, fish and rats and 82% were classified as causing pain equivalent to, or less than, an injection.

Wendy Jarrett, chief executive of UAR,  which developed the Concordat on Openness, said: “Animal research remains a small but vital part of the quest for new medicines, vaccines and treatments for humans and animals.

“Alternative methods are gradually being phased in but, until we have sufficient reliable alternatives available, it is important that organisations that use animals in research maintain the public’s trust in them.

“By providing this level of information about the numbers of animals used, and the experience of those animals, as well as details of the medical breakthroughs that derive from this research, these concordat signatories are helping the public to make up their own minds about how they feel about the use of animals in scientific research in Great Britain.”

Dr Julia Baines, senior science policy manager at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), said: “There’s simply no excuse for subjecting rats, dogs, mice, and other animals – who feel fear, pain, and loneliness just like we do – to experiments in which chemicals are applied to their exposed brains, forcing fevers and triggering seizures.

“Cutting-edge non-animal methods, such as organs-on-chips, are widely available, and clinging to testing on animals is not only barbaric but also irresponsible.

“Despite decades of pretending to the public that it diligently seeks to reduce, refine, and replace the use of animals in laboratories, the former government didn’t go nearly far enough.”