Live animal testing at lowest level in the UK in over a decade

Live animal testing is at its lowest level in the UK in over a decade.

In 2018, 3.52 million procedures were carried out, with approximately 1.8 million being experimental and over half being for basic research around the immune system, cancer, and the nervous system. This is down 7 percent from the previous year. The remaining tests (1.72 million) were carried out to breed genetically modified animals. Sky News reports that new figures released by the UK's Home Office show that the rate of live animal testing is the lowest it has been in over 10 years. The majority of tests were carried out on mice, rats, and fish, with protected species like cats, dogs, horses, and monkeys accounting for one percent of procedures. The number of experiments on birds, however, increased from 130,000 to 147,000. Figures show that just over 40 percent of animals used in experiments experienced discomfort that was "sub-threshold" - ie, their pain was no more than a pin prick. Almost 40 percent of animals experienced "mild" discomfort, with 14.7 percent experiencing "moderate" pain, and 3.6 percent experiencing "severe" discomfort during the tests. Each of the research facilities in the UK that use live animals for testing have said that they are replacing animals where possible.