• Over 1.3 million animals were killed by unis across the country last year
• Science’s victims include cats, dogs, rabbits and over 950,000 mice
• Bristol Uni “estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the appropriate limit”

Freedom of Information requests submitted by The Tab to every university in the UK have shed light on the murky world of vivisection.

But what’s Bristol hiding? Unlike almost every other uni, Bristol doesn’t keep a central record of the number and type of animals killed per year. This means that under the FOI Act, it can avoid releasing information on the basis that gathering the data would be too expensive (over £450).

What we do know is that in 2011 the uni kept rodents, rabbits, fish, amphibia, bats, poultry, pigs, sheep and cats for use in experiments. But that’s your lot.

On a national scale Edinburgh top the table killing a whopping 226,341 animals every year predominantly using mice, fish and rats for their research.

Oxford University’s 202,203 casualties included 29 monkeys, 18 pigs and 43 badgers as well as 192,793 mice but at least they beat Cambridge who massacred almost 60,000 fewer animals.

At Oxford that represents a massive five mice killed for every one student studying at the university.

Newcastle Uni euthanised macaques (left) and marmosets (right)

Alongside Oxbridge it was also Newcastle University and KCL who were guilty of killing monkeys.

Newcastle saw off 14 macaques and 6 marmosets whilst KCL euthanised 39 marmosets.

Cambridge killed 36 “primates” but did not specify the species.

Studies have shown that pigs are smarter than a typical three-year-old child yet 403 were killed at British universities in the last year.

Britain’s Most Bloodthirsty Unis

Alongside Edinburgh and Oxbridge it’s KCL, Imperial and Stirling that complete the ‘Big Six’ of animal testing unis as the only institutions in the country euthanising more than 100,000 animals annually.

While they’re busy with that, spare a thought for scientists at the University of Derby. Whilst their day jobs don’t involve killing anything they do have 1,000 crickets indulging in a daily lab-based shag fest with the noble aim of better understanding their mating habits.

Britain’s Most Vulnerable Animals

Mice were by far the most popular target representing over 75% of the animals being used in deadly research.

Fish came second due to the widespread laboratory use of the Zebrafish which is frequently used as a model organism in studies focused on human gene functions.

Britain’s Most Vulnerable Pets

This will make uncomfortable reading for most animal lovers.

Cardiff killed two cats last year as part of their research. This is revealed just a year after the university was criticised for sewing kittens’ eyes shut.

Luckily for him Charlie (left) lives at Tab HQ and not at the RVC

Don’t worry though cat people, the dogs have been copping their fair share as well. The Royal Veterinary College killed 10 dogs and cute bunny rabbits bit the dust in 11 universities around the country.

Michelle Thew, CEO of The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV), told The Tab: “The details of some [university] research will not only surprise but disgust.

“Tests have involved forcing rodents to inhale diesel fumes to investigate their harmful effects and deliberately inflicting high levels of stress on baby animals to see if having a stressful childhood causes mental health issues in adulthood.

“Many members of the public are under the illusion that all animal experimentation is vital for human health benefits, whereas this couldn’t be further from the truth.”

A spokesperson for Bristol University said “‘Research involving animals at Bristol is governed rigorously and is carried out under three types of licence issued by the Home Office.  Project licence holders are required to make an annual return to the Home Office detailing the number of animals used and the types of studies.

“Annual returns are a direct responsibility of each project licence holder.  For this reason, if FOI requests are made in connection with total numbers, then this would exceed the time limit for requests stipulated within the FOI guidance.”

You can see the full results of our investigation by downloading the raw data here.