Last week's Sunday Tribune's story

The number of animals used for medical and scientific research purposes in Ireland almost doubled to a total of 73,000 in 2006, with significant increases in the amounts of dogs, cats, rats, mice, cattle and fish used, according to new statistics obtained by the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA).


The figures reveal that the Department of Health issued licences to private companies and universities during that year for research on 297 dogs, 169 cats, 85 guinea pigs or hamsters and 182 horses and donkeys.This compares to a total of 37,940 animals which were used for research in 2005.


The revelation has prompted the ISPCA to raise serious questions about whether such research is necessary and to call for much stricter limits to be applied to the cases in which it is permitted.


It said it is particularly concerned about research such as that conducted by an Australian university in conjunction with Queen's University Belfast which it says involved the deliberate blinding of kittens through exposure to too much oxygen, although a spokeswoman for QUB said no kitten-testing took place at the university.


It has also questioned the validity of other research including one study undertaken by Cork University Hospital and UCC during which it claims Labrador dogs had their kidneys deliberately damaged by drugs.


Under current regulations, companies or colleges which wish to conduct such research must apply to the Department of Health for a licence to do so.


According to the ISPCA figures, during 2006, a total of 4,689 cattle, 36,151 fish, 21,152 mice, 10,314 rats, 69 birds and 101 rabbits were also used.


The figures similarly reveal that 189 pigs, 331 sheep and 61 "other mammals" were utilised for research purposes.


The ISPCA was responding to an article in last week's Sunday Tribune which revealed that Trinity College Dublin has spent over €600,000 alone in the past three years procuring a range of animals for medical or scientific research, including 41 live beagle dogs, 69 pigs and over 16,000 mice.


The revelation prompted the Animal Rights Action Network to hold a demonstration outside the college last Thursday during which it called on authorities there to "end deadly animal experiments."


Mark Beazley, chief executive of the ISPCA, told the Sunday Tribune that he was concerned about the large increases in the number of animals used for research in Ireland. "The ISPCA supports current moves by the EU to strengthen the protections offered to these animals," he said.


Given the "huge advances" in alternative approaches in recent years, he added that it was to be regretted that these options are not more fully explored.


"I think in academia there is a stubbornness and a resistance to change, a perception that this is the way things have always been done," he said. "We are not an animal rights organisation, we are an animal welfare organisation…We accept the need for a certain amount of animal testing. In certain circumstances it is essential for medical science."


"We're concerned that the possible solutions are not being looked at more widely, and would also question the validity of some of the experiments and what the cross over to human benefit will be. Given the advances over the years, we would expect to be seeing a decrease, not an increase."