91°µÍø

How many animals were used by the 91°µÍø in 2023?

 In 2023, the 91°µÍø used 5948 animals in research carried out under a Home Office project licence. The vast majority of these were mice, zebrafish and domestic fowl.  The latter species is used for applied research, the aim of which is to develop new treatments that improve the welfare of commercially reared chickens globally.

The figures below, show the numbers of scientific procedures that were carried out at the 91°µÍø on animals.  These figures were declared to the Home Office as part of the 2023 annual return of procedures. 

The numbers of animals that had procedures carried out on them were:

*There has been an increase in the numbers of client owned dogs used compared to 2022.  The procedures were blood samples taken from the dogs with their owner permission and prior information that their pet would be temporarily enrolled under A(SP)A.    Further information about why we use client-owned animals is available below.

Numbers of procedures carried out: 

Number of animals that were killed following procedures carried out were: 

The Severity classifications of the  procedures that were carried out:

The following numbers of animals were either rehomed or returned to their owners:

* these were client-owned animals where their owners gave permission for their animals to be used in studies conducted under A(SP)A (see text for further information).

** These were teaching animals

At the 91°µÍø we run studies under A(SP)A that involve client-owned animals, who are veterinary patients.  These studies involve procedures of recognised veterinary practice that cannot be undertaken under the Veterinary Surgeons Act (such as taking additional blood samples), as these tests are for research purposes, rather than for the direct clinical benefit of the animal involved in the study.  The client-owners all gave informed consent for their animals to be involved in these studies and they were returned to their care at the end of each procedure.  Involvement in these studies was voluntary and the owners could withdraw their animals at any time. A decision to do so, or a decision not to be involved in the study, did not influence the care the animal received in any way.

We also have a dog colony in which we are studying and looking after dogs that have Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.  As part of the management of this colony, we rehome puppies that are unaffected by this disease.  For more information on these types of studies and the animals involved see Research using Client-owned Animals. Also see Use of Animals in Research - Case Studies for a series of short articles explaining how and why we use animals in research at the 91°µÍø.

The proportion of our funded research that relates to animal work:

As a measure of the proportion of our research that involves experimental animals, the amount of external grant funding used to cover the costs of purchasing and keeping the animals has been calculated as a percentage of the total non-pay spend from external grants. This is 20.5%.  

For details of animals used in previous years please see:

2024 figures

2022 figures

2021 figures

2020 figures

2019 figures  

2018 figures

2017 figures