Frequently Asked Questions
- What is vivisection?
- Vivisection literally means the 'cutting up' of living animals, but has now become more generally used as the term for all experiments on living animals (in vivo) as many animal experiments, such as toxicity tests, will not involve surgical procedures. Non-animal research techniques (in vitro) include such things as cell cultures, computer modelling or artificial systems.
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- How many animals are used?
- It is estimated that over 100 million animals suffer every year in laboratory experiments world-wide, with at least 10-11 million animals used in the EU. However, as most countries provide only incomplete statistics it is impossible to know the exact number. Animals bred for research but subsequently killed as 'surplus' are also currently excluded from the statistics. If these animals were added to the annual statistics, the real figure for the total number of animals involved in research around the world would undoubtedly increase by many millions. The UK is Europe's largest user of animals for experiments (2.6 million animals used in 2.7 million experiments in the UK in 2003; 2.1 million used in Germany 2000; 1.83 million used in Germany and 655,217 used in Belgium).
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- What species are used for experiments?
- A wide variety of animal species are used for vivisection around the world. Rats and mice are used in a large proportion of laboratory experiments, mainly because they are easy to handle and cheap to keep because of their small size. They occupy less space in a laboratory than larger animals and can produce 50 - 100 babies a year. Albino rabbits are commonly used for eye and skin tests because they are easy to handle and they have a very limited ability to 'cry away' substances from their eyes during experiments. Guinea pigs are also commonly used in skin testing and batch testing for substances such as vaccines. Dogs and primates are commonly used in toxicity testing, brain research, dental research and surgical experiments. The most common breed of laboratory dog is the beagle, chosen primarily because they are good-natured and a manageable size for testing procedures. Primates such as baboons, macaques, marmosets and chimps continue to be used in their thousands. Other animals commonly used for research include cats, birds, fish, pigs, horses, sheep and hamsters, but many other species are used as well.
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- What type of experiments are animals used in?
- Animals are used in many different types of experiments; all experiments cause pain and suffering. The animals involved will either die as a result of the experiment or be deliberately killed afterwards, often for post mortem examination. In the laboratory an animal may be poisoned; deprived of food, water or sleep; applied with skin and eye irritants; subjected to psychological stress; deliberately infected with disease; brain damaged; paralysed; surgically mutilated; irradiated; burned; gassed; force fed and electrocuted. Researchers around the world use animals to test or develop almost anything from household products, cosmetics and food additives to pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals, agrochemicals, pet foods, medical devices and tobacco and alcohol products. Military experiments subject animals to the effects of poisonous gas, decompression sickness, blast wounds, burns and radiation as they assess new and existing weapons and surgical techniques 'in the field'. Animals are even used in 'curiosity driven' research. In fact, almost all of the products used and consumed by humans every day around the world, will have been tested on animals at some point in time.
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- Where do laboratory animals come from?
- Although some research establishments have their own breeding facilities, the majority of all research animals are 'purpose bred' by commercial companies that specialise in supplying animals for vivisection. The research industry often tries to defend its treatment of animals by emphasising that they are 'purpose bred' as if this means they are somehow different from other animals. The breeders' catalogues talk about the animals they sell as 'products', boasting fast delivery and easy dispatch of orders, as though these living, breathing animals are no more than laboratory equipment. The truth of course is that a laboratory animal has exactly the same capacity to suffer physically and psychologically as a pet animal.
- Many primates used in vivisection around the world, such as macaques and baboons, are trapped in the wild or captive bred in terrible conditions in countries such as Mauritius, Barbados, Indonesia, the Philippines, Tanzania and China. They are then transported thousands of miles to be sold to laboratories in Europe, the United States and the rest of the world. These primates can endure such terrible conditions and stress on their long journeys that many do not reach their destination alive.
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- Are animal experiments cruel?
- The European Coalition believes that deliberately subjecting animals to physical and emotional harm in laboratory experiments is cruel and therefore morally unjustifiable. All animals are capable of feeling physical pain, and they too can experience fear, boredom, depression and psychological distress.
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- Don't we need animal experiments to make sure drugs are safe for humans?
- Animal experiments tell us about animals, not about people. The results of animal studies can never guarantee the safety or efficacy of human medicines or other products because of the fundamental biological, anatomical and biochemical differences between the species. Different species can have completely contradictory responses to a range of substances, and it is not until a substance is tried in human clinical trials that we ever really know that it is safe for use. For example, there can be huge differences in the responses to drug effects in humans and other animals. Aspirin is used as a relatively safe and effective painkiller for humans but can be fatal to cats; Penicillin is a widely used antibiotic in humans and yet it can kill guinea pigs; Arsenic is very dangerous for humans but does not present the same level of threat to rats, mice or sheep; insulin, a drug used safely by people with diabetes, can produce terrible deformities in mice, rabbits and chickens. The danger of relying on animal studies is illustrated by the long list of animal tested drugs that are withdrawn from sale or restricted in their use as a result of unexpected side effects in human patients.
- In April 2000 a study published by US watchdog group Public Citizen reported that an estimated 100,000 Americans die every year from adverse drug reactions. And a report by the Audit Commission 'A spoonful of sugar' published in 2002, revealed that human deaths attributed to adverse drug reactions have increased more than five-fold in the UK in the past ten years, to reach more than 1,100 in 2000. According to a scientific study published in 2001, 16,000 people die every year in Germany from adverse drug reactions (Ref: P Schoenhoefer et al: DGPT-Forum 2001, 28, 15-19). We all want to see real advancement in the treatment of painful and debilitating human diseases, but we believe that these advances depend on developing and using modern, biologically relevant research techniques that do not involve animals.
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- Aren't animal experiments required by law?
- Animal experiments are actually very seldom a legal requirement; there are a few cases where the law actually stipulates animal experiments, but most usually the law simply requires that a company submits a certain amount of test data before a product can be marketed, without dictating the method by which that test data must be acquired. However, because animal tests have been conducted for so many years and the regulatory authorities which require the test data are predisposed to accept data from animal studies rather than alternative techniques, the whole system of product development, regulation and marketing has become inextricably linked with animal experiments. The law, test guidelines and the attitude of regulatory authorities all need to change in order to move away from animal experiments and to embrace more modern, non-animal test methods.
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