To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many experiments were conducted on each species of animal at the DSTL Porton Down facility in each of the last 12 months.
Answered on
5 September 2016
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) reports the numbers of procedures involving animals to the Home Office on an annual basis in accordance with UK legislation. Figures for 2016 will not be available until after the reports have been made. Details of the annual Dstl reports to the Home Office for calendar year 2015, by month, are given in the table below:
Species | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
Guinea Pig | 3 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 44 | 15 | 15 | 9 | 116 |
Marmoset | 0 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 57 |
Mouse | 15 | 449 | 543 | 80 | 83 | 50 | 85 | 213 | 319 | 505 | 450 | 102 | 2,894 |
Pig | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 58 |
Rat | 4 | 8 | 100 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 124 |
Total | 23 | 474 | 655 | 90 | 99 | 58 | 118 | 223 | 380 | 528 | 481 | 120 | 3,249 |
Dstl is proud to deliver cutting-edge science and technology for the benefit of national defence and security. Part of its work is to provide safe and effective countermeasures against the threat posed by chemical and biological weapons and to enhance the treatment of conventional casualties on the battlefield, which could not currently be achieved without the use of animals.
Dstl Porton Down conducts less than half of one per cent of the animal experimentation carried out in the UK. Every procedure is undertaken in strict accordance with the terms of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. Dstl operates in accordance with the principles of the ‘3Rs’ (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement), and has an active programme to increase its implementation. Dstl Porton Down is licensed by the Home Office to conduct research involving animals.