February 12th 2020.
Position Statement
The collection of statistical data on animal use are undoubtedly useful for some purposes but they also have major limitations with respect to informing meaningful and serious consideration of the ethical use of animals in research. As we’ve written before, simply reporting the numbers ignores the global context and relevant information about fluctuations in animals used in research over time. As a result, the reporting can often fall short of the overall goal. Thus, we advocate for an open, serious, and global consideration of the methods, use, and reporting on the number of animals in research and testing worldwide. For instance, we urge the research, advocacy, regulatory, policy and media communities to consider: What is the public benefit and goal of this particular type of reporting? Does the method of collecting data and reporting on animal numbers provide a full picture of why animals are used, how their welfare is ensured, why changes occur across years, or in different species, or in different countries? The answer here may well be no. When that is the case, we advocate for consideration of changes and critical evaluation of the current systems. At SR we believe that a key goal of transparency is to provide not only accurate information, but also the meaningful context that can inform serious consideration and decisions about global science, medical advances, and public benefit.
With these caveats in mind, we have recently updated a number of our pages to reflect official statistics produced by countries.
Worldwide Statistics
While animal research is conducted in most countries in the world, it is challenging to come up with any accurate worldwide figures. Speaking of Research has tracked annual number reports since 2012 and currently tracks 37 countries. Of these, 22 countries (60%) have recently released 2018 statistics (there is generally a lag of 1-2 years in terms of actual year and reports). Eight countries have reports from 2017, six countries from 2016 and one country from 2014.
Historical Statistics
In addition to the most current animal use statistics, we also track historical records for these 37 countries, and have made available records from as far back as 2012. On this page, we also link to our #FactBasedAnalysis of these statistics in various countries across the years.
If you are interested in additional records or if you have records that we do not have posted please contact us.
#FactBasedAnalysis of specific countries’ animal use statistics.
We also provide in depth coverage of animal use statistics for different countries. Currently, we have detailed reports on animals used in 2018 in the United States, the United Kingdom (and Northern Ireland), the European Union, and Germany. Stay tuned for our expanding coverage of each of the 37 countries that we track.
~Speaking of Research
Speaking of Research 