Labour has pledged to commit to phasing out animal testing(Image: Getty Images)

Animal cruelty still exists in Britain - with almost three MILLION tests last year alone

The latest Home Office figures reveal that more than two million tests carried out in the UK are causing severe pain, suffering and distress to animals, including cats, dogs, horses, monkeys, and guinea pigs

by · The Mirror

Almost 2.7million tests were carried out on on animals including cats, dogs, horses, monkeys and guinea pigs in the UK last year, government figures reveal. The majority of experimental procedures (71%) were carried out on mice (around 1.9 million), plus fish (368,000) and rats (148,189).

But there were also 3,770 experiments on dogs, 63 on cats, 11,409 on horses and 2,169 on monkeys. Other animals included guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits, birds, goats, sheep and pigs.

The total number of tests was just 3% down on 2022’s figure and involved 495,658 individual animals. Researchers say 18% of the 2,681,686 tests caused moderate or severe pain, suffering and distress to the animals, Home Office figures show.

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Animal rights groups gathered in Cambridge last April demanding an end to animal experiments( Image: Getty Images)

Cats, dogs, horses and monkeys are classed as “specially protected species”, meaning laboratories must show no others are suitable. Nearly half of primates used in the tests were born to wild-caught parents and included seriously threatened crab-eating macaques from Africa and Asia.

Figures showed a 9% drop in tests on dogs, a 38% fall in cats and a 1% drop in monkeys but a 39% rise in the use of horses and a 1% increase in rabbits. Labour has pledged to commit to phasing out animal testing and campaign group Cruelty Free International is calling for the process to begin.

Wendy Jarrett, of Understanding Animal Research, said alternative methods were gradually being brought in, adding: “Animal research remains a small but vital part of the quest for new medicines, vaccines and treatments for humans and animals.”

Daisy Hall, of Animal Aid, called for the use of “modern research methods”, saying: “Advanced technologies already exist that can improve scientific research and safeguard human health without causing animal suffering.”