Experiments on animals soar to 3m a year

ANIMAL testing in Britain has reached a 15-year high and is set to go on rising, the government said yesterday.

The growing use of genetically-modified mice in scientific research last year pushed the total number of animals used in laboratory testing to more than three million for the first time since 1991.

More than two-thirds of all the animals used in scientific testing were mice. Another 406,000 procedures were carried out on rats.

But the use of larger, more controversial species continued. Some 4,200 "non-human primates", including monkeys and marmosets, were used in British labs. That figure was a 10 per cent fall from 2005.

And among the large mammals used last year were 36,377 sheep, 8,821 horses, 7,402 dogs, 5,334 cattle and 4,675 pigs.

Testing on large animals usually involves medical treatments almost ready for human use.

But more speculative or theoretical work is increasingly carried out using mice or rats that have been genetically modified to allow their bodies to mimic human reactions to substances or conditions.

A total of 2,067,071 mice were used in British experiments last year, and 1,237,563 of them were in some way genetically modified. Of the 406,168 rats used, 37,009 were genetically modified.

Releasing the figures yesterday, Meg Hillier, a Home Office minister, justified the use of genetically-modified animals. "It allows a more precise and often less invasive study of physiological processes and disease mechanisms than was previously possible," she said.

John Richmond, head of the scientific procedures division of the Home Office, said the use of such animals would only rise. "We know that the infrastructure has been put in place for more and more procedures involving genetically altered animals," he said.

All animal testing in Britain must be licensed by the Home Office, which also records the severity of the procedures being carried out.

Yesterday's figures showed that only 2 per cent of all procedures were considered to cause "substantial" suffering, the most traumatic.

Yesterday's figures stoked the simmering row between animal-rights groups and scientists over the use of animals.

The RSPCA said it was "furious" about the rising figures.

"Scientists and pro-animal use campaigning groups are falling over themselves to persuade the public that everything possible is done to avoid using animals in experiments - but clearly something is not working," said the group.

Dr Simon Festing, director of the Research Defence Society, which supports the right of scientists to conduct animal experiments, said: "If researchers couldn't use animals, patients would be the first to lose out. At the same time, we should strike a balance by looking after the animals properly and using them only when necessary."

• THE father of one of Gordon Brown's closest Cabinet allies is backing a legal challenge against the government over the use of monkeys and other primates in animal experiments.

Professor Michael Balls, a Nottingham University zoologist, is the father of Ed Balls, the schools secretary.

Prof Balls is supporting today's High Court application for a judicial review by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection. Its lawyers will argue that the government has failed in its duty to ensure animal suffering in UK laboratory tests is kept to a minimum.

All animal-testing labs in Britain must be licensed and regularly inspected by the Home Office, which also monitors the severity of injury inflicted on animals during testing. Figures released yesterday showed 4,200 "non-human primates" were used in UK animal experiments last year.

Prof Balls, who wants the use of primates banned, said:

"Some of the procedures applied to primates, especially involving the insertion of electrodes into the brain, involve discomfort and suffering.

"This is conveniently classified as 'moderate' treatment. There is little evidence such work provides any benefit to humans, yet substantial suffering is involved for the primates."