The latest numbers of laboratory animals by federal state for 2021, published yesterday by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, show that Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia had the highest total number of animals used in animal experiments or killed for scientific purposes or as “surplus animals”.
“The federal and state governments are still not doing enough to replace animal experiments with modern methods and to minimize the number of animals that suffer and die in the name of science and research,” criticizes Thomas Schröder, President of the German Animal Welfare Federation. The federation has been warning for years that an exit strategy from animal testing is lacking. “A significant reduction in numbers can only be achieved if there is massive investment in the development and use of animal-free methods,” says Schröder.
If you add up all the animals that were used in animal experiments or killed for scientific purposes in 2021, for example to examine their organs, as well as the animals that were killed as “surplus”, Bavaria has the largest number with 891,280 animals, followed by Baden-Württemberg (856,584 animals) and North Rhine-Westphalia (845,194 animals). All three federal states already occupied the sad top positions in the previous year - in alternating order. More than half of all animals used for scientific purposes in Germany were consumed in these three federal states. Overall, the figures are considerably higher than in previous years, as the number of so-called surplus animals has now also been published and could be added up. These are animals that are bred for scientific purposes but are ultimately not “needed” - and are therefore obviously “disposed of” for purely economic reasons. Most surplus animals, namely 462,824 out of 2,554,560 animals across Germany, were killed in Baden-Württemberg in 2021.
In total, 5,058,167 animals were “consumed” by the animal testing industry across Germany in 2021. In all federal states, mainly mice were used, but dogs, cats and primates also suffered. The majority of primates (87 percent) were used in North Rhine-Westphalia - almost exclusively for legally required animal experiments.
Increase in numbers in seven federal states
If we only compare the number of animals actually used with the previous year 2020, there was a slight decrease in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, but an increase in North Rhine-Westphalia, where 18,594 more animals were used than in the previous year. Six other federal states - Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Thuringia - also recorded an increase in the number of animals used. The number of animals used by the German armed forces also increased. The highest percentage increase was recorded here, with 75 percent more animals than in the previous year, followed by Bremen with 35 percent.
Note to editors: Please contact us for an overview of the figures for all 16 federal states.
