Fall in scientific animal testing ‘too little, too late’

New figures reveal 3.79m procedures were carried out in 2017

Scientific testing on live animals has fallen to its lowest level since 2010 - but campaigners say it is “too little, too late”.

Researchers carried out 3.79 million procedures on living animals in England, Scotland and Wales last year, a decrease of 4% from 2016 and the smallest number for seven years.

The number is up 4% from a decade ago, however, the data from the Home Office reveals.

Horses were involved in 10,600 experiments in 2017, an increase of almost a fifth (18%) from the previous year when there were 8,948.

Animal rights groups called for greater investment in scientific methods that do not involve testing on living creatures.

Hazel Jackson, science director of Animal Free Research UK, said: “This almost negligible decrease in the number of animal experiments is simply too little, too late.

“Instead of continuing to pump money into outdated, cruel and often misleading animal research, more needs to be done to invest in the UK’s expert researchers who are developing innovative, human-relevant methods which are best placed to discover treatments for debilitating human diseases.”

Around half of the total procedures were experiments using animals to develop treatments, test the safety of pharmaceuticals and chemicals, for surgical training and education, and for species protection.

The remainder involved the creation and breeding of genetically modified animals, producing offspring for use in further experiments.

Mice, rats and fish accounted for 87% of experimental procedures. The number involving mice fell by 10% from 1.22 million in 2016 to 1.09m in 2017, while those with rats decreased by 2%.

There was an 8% rise in use of fish, from 287,000 in 2016 to 308,000 last year.

Cats, dogs, horses and non-human primates – described as “specially protected species” – were used in 1% of experimental procedures last year.

The number of experiments with dogs fell by 22% from 4,932 in 2016 to 3,847 in 2017, while those with cats rose slightly from 190 to 198.

Since 2014, the Home Office, which is responsible for regulating animal experiments, has classified testing according to the amount of suffering it causes. Of around 1.89 million animal experiments performed last year, 50% were assessed as mild, 26% as moderate and 5% as severe.

Cruelty Free International said it was concerned Britain’s departure from the European Union would lead to an increase in animal testing, with the UK potentially having to duplicate some tests.

Chief executive Michelle Thew said: “The UK Government needs to step up and use this moment in history as a springboard to step up efforts to stop unnecessary animal experiments.”

Picture: Getty. Campaigners hit out at figures despite drop.