Animal Experimentation Statistics for Ireland

Over 106,000 animals suffered in experiments in Irish labs in 2023

The Irish Anti-Vivisection Society (IAVS) condemns the grim toll of over 106,000 animals [1] used in painful experiments in Irish vivisection labs during 2023. The statistics only count experiments that are likely to cause the animals pain, distress, suffering and lasting harm. Almost all the animals die during or are killed after the tests, even when they could be re-homed.

The statistics [2] were revealed on Thursday 19th December 2024 by the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA).

Severe suffering for ‘Botox’ products

Once again, the largest category of animal test – an estimated 34,270 - were commercial poisoning tests on mice for ‘Botox’-type products (Botulinum toxin), many of which are for cosmetics purposes. [3]

Botulinum toxin is one of the most powerful biological toxins known. For each test, the mice are divided into 3 or 4 groups, each receiving different strengths of the botox. Those in the highest-strength group start showing signs of poisoning within hours, with paralysis of the lower body, leading them to stagger or be unable to walk. After about a day, the paralysis starts to affect the respiratory muscles, making the mice gasp for air, start to literally go blue, and die of asphyxiation.

High dose botox tests are among the cruellest procedures that are inflicted on animals in labs, and explain why Ireland continues to have one of the EU’s highest rates of ‘severe’ category tests at 18.4% of the total, or 19,816 animals in 2023. This is a significant increase compared with 2022, indicating that the Irish Government is failing to honour its commitment to ‘enhance animal welfare’.

Several years ago, companies such as Allergan developed modern cell-based tests for botox potency which normally don’t use animals. However, secrecy and commercial considerations have hindered the sharing of these new testing technologies with other botox companies, and so the unnecessary suffering continues.

The IAVS accuses the HPRA and botox animal testers of effectively breaking Irish and EU law by failing to declare on their animal test applications that some of the botox is destined for cosmetic use, thereby grossly distorting the HPRA’s harm-benefit analysis of proposed animal testing projects.

Minimal regard for animal welfare

The 2023 increase in painful animal tests and severity reveals the Government and regulator’s minimal regard for animal welfare.  The HPRA makes clear that it does not have a pro-active strategy to reduce animal testing year-on-year or even achieve consistent decreases in the severity of those tests. The Government and HPRA basically wash their hands of defenceless animals by allowing trends in animal testing to be at the mercy of external commercial and technological developments:

‘Decreases [in the number of animals used], for example, may arise as a result of the ongoing application of the 3Rs principles while certain extraneous developments may result in increases in the levels of animal use.’ [4]

Feeble and ‘chummy’ Inspection

One of the most disturbing revelations of the 2023 animal testing statistics is the paucity of inspections, particularly unannounced ones. The HPRA admits it only conducted 7 unannounced lab inspections [5] during the whole of 2023, down from 11 in 2022. In other words, more than half of animal testing institutions did not receive an unannounced inspection in 2023.

The IAVS comments:

‘This complacent approach to enforcement chimes with the attitude revealed by FoI requests to the HPRA, where officials have turned a blind eye to thousands of animals being left to suffer more than necessary. Unfortunately, the HPRA has a chummy relationship with the animal testing and vivisection industry, smoothing through their permits to hurt animals while concealing unnecessary and excessive suffering. Meanwhile, it does the bare minimum in terms of pushing for the replacement of animal tests with modern human-based technologies.’

Species enduring more tests

Other notable trends revealed by the 2023 figures include the increase in tests from 2022 on mice, rabbits, guinea pigs, goats and certain fish (salmon, trout, chars and grayling). [6]

 

NOTES

[1] At least 106,639 animals were used (for the first time) in 107,873 experiments in 2023: some animals are used more than once, and some animals first used in 2022 may have been re-used in 2023, but would have been counted in the 2022 statistics. So the actual figure for animals used in 2023, may be slightly higher than 106,639.

[2] https://assets.hpra.ie/data/docs/default-source/regulatory-report/scientific-animal-protection/sap-statistical-reports/annual-statistical-report-2023.pdf

[3] See Table 9, ‘Batch potency testing’. The HPRA have informed us that, in 2023, approximately 50% of the 68,539 tests in this category were to test the potency of botulinum toxin products.

[4] See end of Section 5 ‘Trends’, page 18.

[5] 22% of 32 Inspections in total, see page 4.

[6] Mice up from 67320 to 86871; Rabbits up from 1012 to 1852; Guinea Pigs up from 741 to 1188; Goats up from 19 to 26; Salmon, trout, chars and grayling up from 1364 to 2068.

Irish Annual Statistical Reports