Animal Experiments Statistics Total 3.6 Million - "a Shameful Legacy of Science's Complacency About Animal Suffering"

Humane Society International has reacted strongly to Home Office statistics released today revealing no significant decrease in animal experiments conducted in Britain, still totalling 3.6 million experiments in 2009

LONDON, July 27, 2010 - The Home Office emphasises that most procedures were on rodents (82
percent), but HSI research (see below) reveals mice and rats often experience
significant suffering in UK laboratories. The Coalition government must
commit to alternatives, says HSI.

Troy Seidle, director of research and toxicology for Humane Society
International, says:

"The Home Office's announcement year after year of unacceptably high
numbers of animals used in experiments is becoming depressingly familiar.
Such high levels of animal use expose the shameful legacy of science's
complacency about animal suffering where sentient creatures from mice to
monkeys are still treated like dispensable research tools. Animal experiments
fail to meet the sophisticated needs of modern science. Whilst the previous
government's default position was to defend animal research at all costs
despite its clear deficiencies, we need a new vision from the Coalition
government that grasps the opportunity to make a genuine commitment to
advanced alternative techniques. That would not only save the lives of
millions of animals but also improve the quality and pace of medical
progress."

Nearly 3 million mice and rats were used in 2009 but HSI scientist Gemma
Buckland PhD has reviewed a sample of recent experiments and reveals that
rodents can endure significant and sustained suffering.

Shocking examples of rodent research in British universities and
laboratories involved:

    - severe viral infection of lungs without pain relief;
    - addiction to mega-doses of cocaine;
    - baby mice enduring 28 days of painfully inflamed eyes after corneal
      grafts;
    - severed leg ligaments and inflamed joints with acute then chronic pain
      for 16 weeks without pain relief.

Click www.makeanimaltestinghistory.org/statistics.pdf for
referenced summaries of these 2009 rodent experiments.

Says Dr Gemma Buckland, Science & Policy Officer for HSI:

"These small creatures have an acute ability to experience pain and yet
in British laboratories they endure procedures often involving high levels of
suffering, sometimes for prolonged periods and without pain relief. Their
suffering is made more troubling because their relevance as surrogates for
human conditions remains highly questionable. We must not forget that behind
the statistics are real animals' lives and those lives can be highly
distressing."

There was a 1% drop in procedures since 2008. Use of mice, reptiles,
birds, sheep and GM animals increased. Click
www.makeanimaltestinghistory.org/statistics.pdf for HSI's full
statistical summary.

Editor's Notes

Full statistics published
rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/scientific1.html

References and summaries of rodent experiments available
www.makeanimaltestinghistory.org/statistics.pdf

Humane Society International is one of the world's largest animal
protection organisations, with 11 million supporters globally. HSI works to
protect all animals through the use of science, advocacy, education and
hands-on programmes. On the web at www.hsi.org/endanimaltesting.

Media contact Wendy Higgins mobile: +44(0)7989-972-423, email: whiggins at hsi.org