Press release

Published: 25 July 2024

Over 9.3 million animals died in laboratories

According to the animal experimentation statistics recently published by the EU Commission, more than 9.3 million animals had to suffer and die in and for experiments in 2022. Germany contributed over 1.7 million animals, accounting for more than 18%, placing it in the ignominious second place in the statistics, following France (with 2.1 million animals). The German association Doctors Against Animal Experiments (DAAD) criticizes the persistently high number of animal experiments, which demonstrate that current efforts to reduce animal testing have failed. Even animal-free methods recognized by the authorities are not consistently used.

In 2022, 8,385,397 animals were "used" in animal experiments for the first time in the EU and Norway. Additionally, 92,448 animals were "reused" in experiments, bringing the total to 8,487,845 animals that were directly used in experiments and mostly killed. Furthermore, 862,884 animals were used for the development and maintenance of genetically modified lines—whose application in experiments is continuously increasing—resulting in a total of 9,340,729 animals recorded in the EU statistics (1). This figure does not even account for all animals, as those killed for scientific purposes (such as for organ extraction) and so-called surplus animals (bred for experiments but not used and killed as "surplus") are not included. Therefore, the actual number of animals that died for experiments is significantly higher than the statistics suggest.

The animals used in experiments for the first time predominantly included mice (over 4 million animals), fish (over 2.5 million animals), and rats (over 600 thousand animals). However, 8,709 dogs, 1,409 cats, and 5,784 primates, among many other animals, also had to suffer and die in experiments. The number of primates increased by 8.8% compared to the previous year. Although it is not apparent from the EU statistics, it can be assumed that most primates are used in toxicity tests, and a significant number suffers for years in invasive brain research (2).

Compared to 2021, the statistics for 2022 shows a 10.9% decrease in the number of animals used in experiments for the first time. However, this decline is not due to effective efforts to reduce the number of animal experiments but is primarily because three projects in 2021 - involving over 1.3 million fish - caused a temporary spike in the statistics (1). In contrast, compared to 2020, there was a 5.6% increase in 2022. This is not consistent with the increasing availability of powerful animal-free methods and the often-professed efforts to reduce the number of animals used in experiments.

“Particularly dramatic is the fact that the proportion of ´severe´ animal experiments has hardly decreased. In 2022, it was 9.2%, meaning that over 784,000 animals had to endure especially severe suffering,” explains Dr. Johanna Walter, scientific advisor at DAAE. It should be noted that the severity is reported by the experimenters themselves, making underestimation likely. The proportion of this most severe category has ranged between 10 and 11% in recent years.

In 2022, 37% of the animals (3.1 million animals) were used in basic research, which by definition does not have a specific purpose and continues to cause the highest "consumption" of animals, closely followed by 35% for translational and applied research (around 3 million animals).

In regulatory animal testing, which includes legally mandated tests, there was a 16% decrease to 1.1 million animals in 2022, continuing a trend that has been ongoing for years. This trend can be explained by changes in regulations for human medicines. The announcement of the removal of the rabbit pyrogen test from the European Pharmacopoeia led to a 19% decrease in these distressing tests compared to the previous year. This removal is long overdue, as animal-free methods have been available for 30 years, and it will finally end rabbit testing in 2025 (3). However, in 2022, over 19,000 animals—mostly rabbits but also mice—still died in the EU for pyrogen tests, including over 1,000 in Germany.

The example of the pyrogen test demonstrates that regulatory changes are necessary to ensure the consistent use of existing animal-free methods. Without this pressure, the status quo remains, and many animals die in outdated and unnecessary experiments despite the availability of animal-free methods acceptance by the authorities. This is also evident in the routine production of antibodies: over 230,000 animals died for antibody production - despite the availability of animal-free methods (4), representing a significant 64% increase compared to 2021. Particularly distressing is that 49,309 mice were used in the especially cruel mouse ascites method (4)—almost 34% more than the previous year.

The numbers show a consistently high consumption of animals, aside from fluctuations. Particularly shocking is the use of animals in experiments for which animal-free methods, already accepted by authorities, exist. “It is time for the principle of the Animal Welfare Act -that animal experiments may only be conducted if no animal-free methods are available - to be finally implemented consistently. This would be a first sensible and easily implementable step toward the ultimate abolition of all animal experiments,” Walter concludes.