AETOX - Asociación Española de Toxicología

Inventory of the Spanish Institutions and Scientists Involved in Alternatives to the use of Laboratory Animals (Refinement, Reduction or Replacement)+

Inventory: 7. Animals Used

It has been reported that the total number of research animals used in the world is falling; about 35 % in the US from 1985 to 1995; from 5.6 to 2.9 million in the UK from 1974 to 1992; and in the Netherlands from 1.6 million in 1978 to only 673,000 animals in 1974 (Roush, 1997)

The first report from the European Commission to the Council and the European Parliament of the statistics on the number of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes in the Member States of the European Union was published in 1994 (EU, 1994).

The purpose of reporting to the Council and Parliament is to implement Articles 13 and 26 of Directive 86/608/EEC. Under Article 13, the responsible authority in each Member State shall "on the basis of requests for authorisation and notifications received, and on the basis of reports made,...collect...statistical information on the use of animals in experiments..."

Article 26 requires an appropiate summary of the statistical information collected under Article 13 to be provided to the Commission "at regular intervals not exceeding three years, and for the first time five years following notification of this Directive". This is an important report in terms of indicating the manner and the extent to which individual Member States currently comply with their obligations under these Directive articles.

According to the Spanish official data included in the first European report (EU, 1994), 558,823 animals were used in 1991, mice being the species most used (56 %), followed by rats (24 %), and birds (12 %) (Table 3). The figures for other countries were very different: from 3,645,708, France; 3,181,768, the United Kingdom; 2,402,710, Germany; 876,058, The Netherlands; 683,293, Italy; 304,370, Denmark; 87,117, Portugal; to 25,300, Greece and Ireland.

Some criticism has arisen about the overall data, as there is no reference to any shortfalls in data (Straughan, 1994). The report also reveals a very unsatisfactory state of affairs with respect to data collection. It notes that the Commission "found it impossible to produce fully consistent, transparent, Community-wide figures", and that "the national figures do not give the full picture, since many laboratories were unable to complete the tables or failed to return them to the authorities"

A survey about the use of animals in Spain, prepared by Martín Zúñiga in 1997, was answered by 12% (n=21) of the centres using animals within the country. Of the 127 centres registered by the Ministry of Agriculture, the author estimated there were at least another 20-25 % which were not officially registered, particularly in the regions of Andalucia, Extremadura, Baleares, Valencia and Madrid. Only 15 of the 38 universities using animals were registered, but curiously enough, except for one (UAB), they were all registered as users, when they are also producers of animals. Only 7 hospitals from the National Health Service were registered, while at least 15 hospitals have experimental units. Only 4 centres from the National Research Council (CSIC) were registered, although more than 14 of them are using animals. Fortunately, the industries (6) and pharmaceutical laboratories seem to be registered (52), and they use the most animals.

Table 3. Total number of animals used for scientific purposes in Spain in 1991

SPECIES	NUMBER
Mice	313,250
Rats	135,659
Guinea pigs	17,464
Other rodents	1,201
Rabbits	17,307
Apes	0
Other simians	7
Prosimians	18
Dogs	1,479
Cats	96
Other carnivores	70
Horses, donkeys and cross-breds	5
Pigs	1,109
Goats and sheep	728
Cattle	74
Other mammals	0
Birds	69,018
Reptiles	0
Amphibians	390
Fish	621
TOTAL	558,823

The same author (Martín Zúñiga, 1997), employing data from Catalonia, which used 325,590 animals in 1996, estimated that the actual number of animals used in Spain may be about 700,000. In addition, Martin Zúñiga detected inadequate preparation of technicians and researchers, a low level of animal welfare, and few centres with active ethical commitees.

Appropiate preparation of researchers and technicians should be encouraged (de la Peña et al., 1995). ICLAS and FELASA recommendations on the education and training of persons working with laboratory animals should be followed (FELASA, 1995; Martín Zúñiga et al., 1997) and the creation of active ethical committees should be promoted.

Fuente / Source: Guillermo Repetto, Ana del Peso, Manuel Salguero, Manuel Repetto (1999) Inventory of the Spanish Institutions and Scientists Involved in Alternatives to the use of Laboratory Animals (Refinement, Reduction or Replacement) Revista de Toxicología 16: 50-127.