National Antivisection Society
LDF funding EU survey of animal use in education
23 April 2010
The latest figures from the 25 EU Member States, reporting animal use in 2005 (2004 for France), state that 198,994 animals were used for “education and training”.
This is staggering in its enormity and also the diversity of species used in this area. The report gives scant information on the exact use of these animals, which include 86,597 mice, 50,048 rats, 3,856 rabbits, 5,854 pigs, 1,391 cattle, 15,666 amphibians and 23,796 fish.
The figure fell since the preceding reporting period, 2002 (2001 for France) which reported that 341,967 animals were used. The latest report states that the “decrease of animals used for education and training can be attributed to both an uptake of alternative techniques and the re-use of animals.” However, we believe that many more animals are being used in dissections or other procedures where statistics are not published.
LDF is funding an exciting new project to clarify exactly what these animals are being used for, to gain valuable information regarding their use and also to target the implementation of alternatives to certain subject or geographical ‘hot-spots’.
This is the first LDF funded survey, and it will be on a massive scale! The aim of the survey is to find out exactly where animals are being used in higher education, for which subject and in what numbers. In addition, the availability and implementation of alternatives will be investigated. The results of the research, which is being overseen by Professor David Dewhurst at the University of Edinburgh, will be a unique tool for targeted replacement of animals in education. In addition, it will demonstrate the feasibility of gathering quantitative data in order to assess possibilities for the implementation of advanced techniques in other areas of research where animals are currently used.
Questionnaires will be sent to universities and professional bodies in the target member states, to gather information on the use of alternatives to animals and specific data regarding animals, such as where they are used and why. The researcher conducting the survey will follow up the questionnaires with phone calls and emails to maximise the number of responses, thereby giving LDF a more detailed picture of the situation.
At the end of the survey it is hoped that a comprehensive picture of the use of animals across the EU will have been gained, along with information on how and where LDF can push alternatives in order to reduce the number of animals used from 200,000 to ZERO.
We will report on the progress of the survey, and its outcomes in future editions of New Science and in our sister magazine Animal Defender.
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