Last week we looked at the 2015 animal research statistics for Spain, this week we move our attention to Denmark. The newly published report by the Animal Research Inspectorate (Dyreforsøgstilsynet) shows that the number of procedures on animals carried out in Denmark in 2015 was 241,657, up 21% from 2014. The number of animals used is likely to be very similar.
There were rises in the number of procedures on all the main species – mice, rats, fish and birds. Fish saw one of the larger increases, up over 8,000 (77%) from 2014. The only major decrease was a 70% fall in the number of procedures on dogs – which fell from 224 to 68.
Mice, rats, fish and birds accounted for over 96% of research animals in Denmark, similar to many other EU countries. Dogs and cats accounted for just 0.05% of research animals, with no primates used in either 2015 or 2014.
The new EU guidelines also require retrospective reporting of animal suffering in experiments. Of the 241,657 procedures in Denmark in 2015, over 90% were mild or moderate, 8.7% were non-recovery (where the animal is fully anaesthetised before surgery and then never woken up) and just 0.9% were severe. The proportion of severe experiments is below what has been reported in many other European countries. Most severe experiments were on mice. For more information see Figure 6 of the Government statistical release (in Spanish).
The number of animals used in testing and research since 2009 has gently decreased from over 290,000 to just over 240,000, a 17% decrease. The Danish report shows in 1980 the number of experiments was over 350,000, falling to 330,000 by 1990 and 300,000 in 2000. All of this evidences a long term decline in the number of animal procedures.
Other insights that could be gleaned from the statistics:
- 16.1% of studies involved the use of genetically altered animals.
- The most common use of animals was Translational and applied research (51%), followed by Basic Research (37%) and Regulatory use (9%).
We aim to keep our readers abreast of the latest developments in animal statistics worldwide. Keep your eyes out for more stats on the horizon.
Speaking of Research 
Great post! Thank you Speaking of Research!