Horses and beagles are used in 1.7m tests on animals

MORE THAN 1.7 million experiments were carried out on animals last year, including over 10,000 on horses and more than 4,000 on dogs.

Another 1.67 million procedures were for the creation and breeding of genetically altered animals.

Annual statistics by the Home Office reveal that there were more than 2,800 experiments on monkeys and another 130 on cats in 2019.

The numbers carried out using monkeys and dogs – beagles accounted for nearly all the 4,055 experiments – have fallen by 39 per cent and 27 per cent over the past decade.

However, the number of experiments on horses is up 26 per cent over the same period.

Horses are used mainly for the “routine production of bloodbased products”, used for a variety of diagnostic purposes, the report states.

Over half of experimental procedures (57 per cent) were for basic research, most commonly focusing on the immune system, nervous system and cancer.

A quarter of all experiments were for regulatory procedures, the majority of which were to satisfy UK and EU legislation.

The statistics also grade the level of pain and distress suffered by animals, with the worst grade “severe” accounting for under 10 per cent of experiments.

The vast majority of animals used to produce genetically altered offspring for use in experimental procedures were mice (84 per cent).

Campaigners said the figures revealed the “industrial scale” of animal experiments.

Animal Aid’s Jessamy Korotoga said experiments involving surgical mutilation, force-feeding of chemicals and exposure to nerve agents were “shocking examples of an outdated and archaic industry”.