Laboratory animals. Portugal increased usage by 34.7% within one year
Rodents, pigs, sheep and fish. These were, in 2018, the main species used for research in Portugal, in a total of 62,323 animals. Unlike other countries, in Portuguese territory dogs, cats or monkeys were not used.
As in the previous year, the so-called “mice” were again the favorites in laboratory experiments, representing almost 67 percent (41,745) of all animals used by scientists and researchers in the country.
This was followed by “other fish” (12,474), rats (5,361), zebrafish (2,448), pigs (175), rabbits (55), “other rodents” (37), sheep (18) and, finally, , the cephalopods (marine molluscs), which were eight.
The three most used animals in biomedical research in 2018 in Portugal – according to the report published by @EU_Commission.https://t.co/hwJ80L95Tz #EAR #USAnimalStats #animal experiment pic.twitter.com/PirVULiQin
– EARA_PT (@EARA_PT) July 16, 2021
The main increase in Portugal was, according to Brussels, in the use of fish: 23.95 percent in 2018, when in the previous year it had represented only 3.98 percent of the total number of animals used.
According to Brussels, this increase is due to more studies in the areas of animal nutrition, digestion and infectious diseases there is no support for aquaculture and animal biology.
There was also another big difference in Portugal: the number of reused animals dropped. In 2017, 1,509 animals of the animals were used more than once in the laboratory. The following year, however, this only happened to 300.
In accordance with current legislation, researchers should reuse animals as much as possible. instruments for laboratory testing.
As reasons for the increase
O report The European Commission also says that from 2017 to 2018 there was “an evident increase in the use of animals in basic research, in translational and applied research and in the maintenance of colonies of genetically altered animals”.
According to the document, more than 64 percent of all animals used in Portuguese laboratories were used for Experiences in the areas of oncology, nervous system, respiratory system, sensory organs, endocrine system and metabolism humans.
A smaller number used in the areas of infectious, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases.
But also in the area of animal welfare they were experimented, namely in the fields of behavior, biology, nutrition or infection of the most diverse species.
Advances in Portugal only achieved thanks to animals
In Portugal, one of the cases in which the use of animals proved essential in 2018, which happened at the Gulbenkian Science Institute, where Researchers have taken new steps in the field of antibiotic resistance – a growing challenge in the treatment of infectious diseases worldwide.
In the previous year, at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Lisbon (FFUL), scientists created a vaccine that obtains prevent the development of skin cancer in mice.
“This vaccine does not directly target tumor cells, instead using the body’s immune system to selectively destroy cancer cells,” EARA explained. “These results are extremely relevant for cancer patients”.
At the Center for the Study of Chronic Diseases (CEDOC), scientists are using mice to discover a therapy that can help reduce the side effects of type 2 diabetes, allowing the disease to interfere less with patients’ daily activities.
EU numbers
In the European Union, the total number of animals used was fixed in the 8.92 million in 2018, a reduction compared to the previous year, when almost 9.39 million were used.
As in Portugal, also in all Member States the mice, rats and fish were the most chosen, represents about 88 percent. already the dogs, cats and monkeys make up just 0.3 percent of the total – an increase compared to 2017, when the figure was 0.25 percent.
Statistical data on the use of cats, dogs and monkeys used for scientific scientific purposes to 2018 were published by @EU_Commission. https://t.co/UfMjeVEQTr #EAR #USAnimalStats #animal experiment pic.twitter.com/3UOLiwVATS
– EARA_PT (@EARA_PT) July 16, 2021
According to the European Association for Animal Research (EARA), primates play a significant role. in AIDS research and in the development of treatments for Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s, while dogs are being used to discover treatments for heart disease and Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which is still incurable and leads to early deaths.
“This year [de 2021] saw a vital contribution that an animal investigation made during a covid-19 pandemic”, stressed Kirk Leech, executive director of EARA.
For the official, “at a time of growing pressure from activists on the European Commission to immediately end experiments on animals, these statistics demonstrate the commitment of the biomedical sector to be open and transparent about the important work it does.”
consequences for animals
According to EARA, “before researchers use an animal model, they have to prove that methods that do not use animals would not allow them to acquire medical knowledge.”
Therefore, “Animal research is strictly regulated” by European directives and, for each procedure in animals – from a request for blood to a surgery – approvals are required by entities that assess the ethics of these processes.
To promote transparency in this field as well, the European Commission clarifies in its report that, in 2018, around 68 percent of animal uses were rated “mild”, 19 percent “moderate”, 10 percent “severe” and three percent “no recovery”.
The designated cases “No recovery” are those in which animals were obtained general anesthesia from which they did not recover, according to the DGAV (General Directorate of Food and Veterinary Medicine).
On the other hand, “mild” cases refer to “procedures on animals and which are likely to make them feel pain, suffering or mild anguish for a long time, as well as procedures without stored damage for the well-being or general condition of the animals”.
“Moderate” cases are “procedures in animals that are likely to cause them to experience moderate pain, suffering or distress of short duration, or mild pain, suffering or distress of long duration, as well as procedures likely to cause moderate harm to the well-being or general state of the animals”.
already the “Severe” can cause “severe pain, suffering or distress, or long-term moderate pain, suffering or distress”, being also “likely to cause severe damage to the well-being or general condition of the animals”.