Revealed: The Russell Group unis that are testing on animals the most

Russell Group universities are known for being more research-focused than other UK unis. I’m afraid quite a lot of the research at Russell Group unis involves testing on animals.

According to Understanding Animal Research, just ten UK organisations are responsible for 54 per cent of the experiments on animals in the country. Eight of these ten organisations are Russell Group universities.

Each year, different scientific organisations in the UK publish statistics on animal testing from the previous year for the Home Office’s annual report.

A lot of the universities breed mice, zebrafish, rats and other animals on site for researchers to use in experiments. These numbers include animals that were only bred from in 2023.

So, here are the eight Russell Group unis that did the most testing on animals in 2023:

8. Imperial College London – 68,135 animals

In 2023, scientists at Imperial used 63,646 mice, 1,674 fish, 1,709 rats, 24 birds, 799 guinea pigs, 42 rabbits and 240 hamsters.

Imperial also bred 45,906 mice, 1,836 zebrafish and 520 rats.

7. University of Glasgow – 102,089 animals

At Glasgow, 97,206 mice, 880 rats, 141 hamsters, 46 gerbils, 2,788 fish, 646 birds, 227 sheep, 147 rabbits, six cattle and two dogs were used in research during 2023.

Some of the mice were used at the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research.

The Glasgow website clarifies that the two dogs were used to test new medication to help dogs who suffer from canine epilepsy, and that the medication helped the dogs with their symptoms.

6. King’s College London – 109,779 animals

Guy’s Campus at King’s College London
(Credit: FormerBBC via Creative Commons)

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In 2023 alone, King’s used 26 amphibians, 20,777 fish, 87,132 mice and 1,844 rats. In previous years, the scientists at King’s also used marmosets, rabbits and guinea pigs.

According to the King’s website, experiments on animals take place at Guy’s Campus, Denmark Hill Campus and Waterloo Campus.

5. University of Manchester – 110,885  animals

Scientists at the Uni of Manchester tested on 80,030 mice, 24,597 zebra fish, 2,214 rats, 3,942 amphibians, 40 guinea pigs, 60 sheep and 12 gerbils.

The Manchester Uni website explains that the animals were used to research problems such as heart disease, cancer, dementia and strokes. 13,110 of the mice were used at the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute.

4. University of Edinburgh – 139,881 animals

In 2023, researchers at Edinburgh uni experimented on 94,761 mice and rats, 42,665 zebrafish, salmon, and rainbow trout, 1,599 chickens and quails, and 558 cows, sheep and pigs.

Edinburgh also monitored in the wild or captured then rereleased 298 deer, sheep, wild birds and elasmobranch fish. (Elasmobranch fish include sharks, rays and sawfish.)

3. University College London (UCL) – 176,019 animals

UCL experimented on 109,530 mice, 63,438 fish, 2,180 rats, 44 rabbits, 132 gerbils, 45 guinea pigs, eight ferrets, 26 hamsters, and 616 xenopus frogs.

Only 2.7 per cent of UCL’s experiments – about 4,741 animals – were classed as non-recovery.

2. University of Oxford – 194,913 animals

The science buildings at the University of Oxford
(Credit: Matthias Rosenkranz via Creative Commons)

In 2023 alone, the scientists at Oxford used 192,039 mice, 611 rats, 21 ferrets, 48 guinea pigs, 29 domestic fowl (such as chickens), 10 primates, 42 pigs, 21 other rodents, 45 other birds, 1,919 zebrafish and 128 other fish.

Oxford’s website indicates there are approximately 16,000 animals kept in the Biomedical Sciences Building, including about 40 monkeys. Most of the animals are bred there.

1. University of Cambridge – 223,787 animals

Cambridge Uni experiments on animals more than any other scientific organisation in the country. It used 223,787 animals in experiments this year – almost twice the number used in 2019.

97 per cent of the animals used in 2023 were mice or zebrafish. The Cambridge website says it also experimented on 3,428 rats, 527 Japanese rice fish, 505 other fish, 51 primates, 98 sheep, 134 guinea pigs, 83 other rodents, 44 pigs, 739 xenopus frogs, and five ponies.

Cambridge didn’t test on any rabbits and chickens in 2023, but it has in previous years.

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