The ethics of research involving animals - Nuffield Council on ...

T h e e t h i c s o f r e s e a r c h i n v o l v i n g a n i m a l s
Appendix 1: Statistics - Use <strong>of</strong> <strong>animals</strong> in the UK
Examples <strong>of</strong> the numbers <strong>of</strong> <strong>animals</strong> used for different purposes by humans
Use
Animal <strong>research</strong> (see Appendix 2)
Food 2
Poultry
Cattle
Sheep
Pigs
Fish
Working <strong>animals</strong>
Guide Dogs
Police Dogs
Clothing
Wool
Fur
Leisure/ Education
Wildlife observation
Companion <strong>animals</strong>/Pets
Zoo
Circus
Hunting/shooting
Numbers used
UK (2003): 2.79 million 1
UK (2003): Total 900 million – 1 billion
Including:
UK (2003): 871 million broiler chickens (for meat)
27 million hens for egg production
UK (2003): 10.4 million
UK (2003): 33.6 million
UK (2003): 4.6 million
UK (2003): 631,400 tonnes 3
UK (2004): 5,000 4
England and Wales (2003): 2,500 5
UK (2002/03): 24.9 million sheep 6
Fur farming is now prohibited in the UK 7
not available
UK (1995): More than half <strong>of</strong> all households have a pet – 7.2 million cats, 8
6.5 million dogs, 1.2 million rabbits, 135 million ornamental fish 9
UK (2003): 160 registered zoos 10
UK (1997): 21 circuses with animal acts, 545 wild and exotic <strong>animals</strong> 11
UK (1999): 178 fox hunts, 3 deer hunts, 83 hare hunts and 20 mink hunts
per year 12 , approximately 4,000 hounds a year put down 13
APPENDIX 1: STATISTICS - USE OF ANIMALS IN THE UK
Sport
Horse racing
Greyhound racing
UK (2005): 14,000 horses in training 14
UK (2005): 10,000 new greyhounds registered with the National Greyhound
Racing Club each year 15
Pest control
[UK (2002): 1,300 pest-control companies – mice, rats, wasps, bees 16 ]
1 Home Office (2004) Statistics <strong>of</strong> Scientific Procedures on Living Animals Great Britain 2003 (Norwich: HMSO).
2 DEFRA (2003) Statistics in Animal Health & Welfare Strategy for GB: <strong>The</strong> Evidence Base, available at:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/environment/ahwseb.pdf. Accessed on: 3 May 2005; see also RSPCA (2005) Farm Animals,
available at: http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RSPCA/Publications/FarmAnimalsPublications&articleid=0.
Accessed on: 3 May 2005.
3 DEFRA (2004) United Kingdom Sea Fisheries Statistics 2003, available at:
http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/publications/fishstat/uksfs03.pdf. Accessed on: 3 May 2005.
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