Cruelty Free Europe, an animal protection NGO, is urging the new European Commission, headed by Ursula von der Leyen, to accelerate its plan to phase out animal testing. After the publication of figures for 2021 and 2022, it was revealed that progress in reducing the number of animals used in science in the European Union has stalled.
However, Cruelty Free Europe is pleased to see a significant reduction in the use of animals in regulatory testing (testing to prove the safety and efficacy of consumer products). This is likely due to the increased adoption of approved non-animal testing methods, which has led to a 21% reduction in the use of animals in regulatory testing since 2020.
According to European Commission statistics (1), 9.34 million animal experiments were conducted in the EU and Norway in 2022. This is an 8% decrease from 2021, but the number of animal experiments has increased by 7% since 2020.
France conducted the most tests on animals in the EU in 2022, with 2.13 million, up 29% from 2020. Germany conducted 1.73 million tests and Norway 1.41 million (95% of which involved fish). Spain conducted 1.12 million animal tests, up 53% from the total in 2020.
These four countries accounted for 68% of the total number of animal tests conducted in the EU in 2022.
From 2020 to 2022, tests reported to have caused ‘severe suffering’ decreased slightly, but tests causing moderate suffering (the second highest level of suffering) increased significantly by 19%, to over 3.71 million. Overall, the number of tests causing moderate or severe suffering to the animals involved was 49%.
From 2020 to 2022, the following usage increased:
- Dogs – Increased by 2% to 14,395
- Monkeys – Increased by 5% to 7,658
- Horses, Donkeys and Hybrids – Increased by 5% to 5,098
- Rabbits – 8% increase, 378,133
- Goats – increased by 69% to 2,680
- Pigs – 18% increase, 89,687 heads
- Reptiles – increased by 74% to 5,937
- Cephalopods (e.g. squid and octopus) – up 65% to 2,694
The use of the following items also decreased:
- Cats – 3,383, down 15%
- Ferrets – 941, down 27%
- Guinea pigs – down 23% to 86,192
- Sheep – down 12% to 17,542
Some tests on the RAT (Alternatives to Animal Testing) list (2) created by Cruelty Free International, founder of Cruelty Free Europe, have decreased. This list is a list of regulatory tests that include acceptable and reliable non-animal alternatives and can be immediately terminated. For example, the number of skin and eye irritation, skin sensitization and pyrogenic tests decreased in 2022, but still exceeded 55,000. Surprisingly, the use of cruel and outdated methods of producing antibodies, the tests that cause the most severe levels of suffering, increased by 18% (to 49,309).
The European Commission committed last year to develop a roadmap to phase out animal testing for chemical safety assessment in response to Cruelty Free Europe’s 2020 European citizens’ initiative ‘Save cosmetics without animal testing – commit to an animal testing-free Europe’ (4). Last month, Cruelty Free Europe, in collaboration with a group of animal protection NGOs, met with key stakeholders from across the EU, which was an important step in creating a roadmap to end animal testing in Europe.
Dylan Underhill, Head of Communications at Cruelty Free Europe, said: “These new statistics show how vital it is that the European Commission continues and accelerates its work to end animal testing in Europe. As we enter a new political cycle in the EU, it is absolutely vital that we build on the work already done and redouble our efforts to speed up progress. The Commissioner will be highlighting to her new commissioners the importance of their mandate to phase out animal testing and urging all commissioners to make this a shared priority.
“The 1.2 million people who signed the European Citizens’ Initiative have shown our strong commitment to this issue and we are ready to help the European Commission take the bold steps necessary to reflect public opinion. Without this, we will be stuck in a vicious cycle of stagnation and small cuts. What we need is transformational change.”
