RVC Animals in Research at the RVC

In 2020, the RVC used 13,783** animals in research. The vast majority of these were domestic fowl (3%), mice (39%), rats (45%) and zebrafish (12%).

These figures include those submitted to the Home Office as part of the annual returns.

Numbers of animals that had procedures carried out on them were:

Species	Numbers used
Cattle	12**
Dogs	18
Domestic fowl	377
Equidae	7
Mice	5394
Pigs	60
Rats	6175
Sheep	54
Zebrafish	1686

Eight client-owned pet dogs were involved in studies conducted under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act (ASPA) at the RVC where veterinary patients are studied in depth. These were all used with informed client consent and involved procedures of recognised veterinary practice but for reasons explained below could not be undertaken under the Veterinary Surgeons Act.

Ten cows were blood sampled for experimental purposes but remained as part of a dairy herd at the College’s farm.

We undertake a number of clinical studies involving veterinary patients who return to the care of their owners at the end of each procedure, which may have been something as simple as a blood test. Some of these studies need to be undertaken under ASPA - because, for example, additional blood samples or other clinical tests were undertaken for research purposes, rather than for the direct benefit of the animal involved in the study - and are included in the above table and the numbers of animals involved detailed above.

For more information on these types of studies and the animals involved see Research using Client-owned Animals.

See also Use of Animals in Research - Case Studies for a series of short articles explaining how and why we use animals in research at the RVC.

Numbers of procedures carried out at the RVC were (info added to website August 2023):

Cattle	Dogs	Domestic Fowl	Equine	Mice	Pigs	Rats	Sheep	Zebrafish
16**	18	377	9	5550	60	6127	54	844

Numbers of animals that were killed following procedures carried out were (info added to website August 2023):

Dogs	Domestic Fowl	Equine	Mice	Pigs	Rats	Sheep	Zebrafish
8	377	3	5394	60	6166	49	1214

The Severity classifications of the procedures that were carried out (info added to website August 2023):

Sub-threshold	Mild	Moderate	Non-Recovery	Severe
865	2858**	9117	142	73
6.6%	21.9%	69.8%	1.1%	0.6%

Purpose of Research carried out (numbers are procedures) – info added to website August 2023:

	Cattle	Dogs	Domestic Fowl	Equine	Mice	Pigs	Rats	Sheep	Zebrafish
Basic Research	1**		377		605		25		567
Breeding & Maintenance of GA Animals					34				51
Translational & Applied Research	15	18		9	4911	60	6102	54	226
TOTALS	15	18	377	9	5550	60	6127	54	844

The following numbers of animals were either rehomed or returned to their owners:

Species	Rehomed/returned to clients/returned to dairy herd*
Cattle	12**
Dogs	24
Guinea Pig	5
Hamsters	3
Rabbits	1
Rats	6

*these rehoming figures include animals that were used for teaching purposes and dogs that were rehomed from a breeding colony.

** July 2024: a project licence holder notified us of a change to the numbers that we previously reported in 2020.

The proportion of our funded research that relates to animal work

As a measure of the proportion of our research that involves experimental animals, the amount external grant funding used to cover the costs of purchasing and keeping the animals has been calculated as a percentage of the total non-pay spend from external grants and is 12.6%.

2019/20