The ECEAE reacts with disappointment to today’s EU statistics on animal experimentation

The European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE) has announced today that the figures revealed in the animal testing EU statistics ‘aren’t the significant progress for animals in laboratories that they had hoped for’.

The ECEAE is an alliance of leading European animal organisations and represents 26 animal welfare organisations in 24 EU member and candidate states. The BUAV, the UK member group, is Secretariat to the ECEAE.

The latest statistics show:

• The total number of animals used in 2011 was 11,481,521 which is a 4.3% decrease from 2008 when the statistics were last released.

• The use of animals for fundamental biological research has increased from 38% to 46% (715,519 animals)

• A worrying report that 90 animals were used to test cosmetic substances despite the fact it was banned in 2009.
  

• Increases included: a 29% increase in fish (1,397,462), 12% increase in horses, donkeys and ponies (6,686) and 75% increase in other carnivores (foxes, badgers, seals, otters and polecats - 4,982) and a 8% increase in rabbits (358,213)
  

• ECEAE Chief Executive, Michelle Thew states:  “Whilst we cautiously welcome the decrease in animals used in Europe’s laboratories, it is disappointing that further progress has not been made.  55% of the experiments are carried out in only three member countries - France, Germany and the UK – these countries should be leading the way in pioneering humane alternatives, not continuing to carry out cruel animal experiments. This isn’t the significant progress for animals in laboratories we had hoped for.”