A break-down of UoB’s animal testing

After a recent report showed that just 10 Universities in the UK conducted a third of all animal experiments in the UK, the University of Birmingham has issued an FAQ section dedicated to how many animals they have tested on since 2007. UoB came ninth in the list and it’s quite easy to see why:

Mice are leading the way with 45,039 mice being tested on in the past year, with rats in second place with significantly less at 1311.  Apparently, the testing is only carried out on animals when there is absolutely no other alternative (Animals and Scientific Procedures Act, 1986) but the numbers, especially for mice, aren’t necessarily representative of that. The number of mice that were tested on last year would be the equivalent of roughly 172 mice per working day.

UoB maintains that they adhere to strict guidelines issued by the Home Office, and have periodic inspections to make sure they are complying to welfare standards and treating the animals with due care and attention.

Whilst it is sad that so many animals have to be tested on, they do provide us with research and development for life threatening and debilitating diseases, developing treatments that can only really be tested on living organisms. As much as we want an animal testing-free world, we’ll just have to trust that the animals that are being tested on are necessary and being continually scrutinized by Animal Welfare.