The number of animals being used in experiments has increased in Ireland.
Most of these animals which were used, were animals which have never been used in tests before. This means, that most animals used in experiments annually are killed.
Statistics released by the Health Products Regulatory Authority has shown that 228,975 animals were used in tests in Ireland in 2015.
The study also showed that some animals were used again in experiments. A total of 15, 746 animals were used again in experiments.
Because of EU secrecy laws on animal testing, it is unclear what the actual numbers are. We should take these numbers as being a minimum. But likely, the numbers of animals being used is probably higher.
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There are many different species being used in animal testing in Ireland. But, the vast majority of animals used are mice (83%). The second most used animal are cattle (5%). The third is rats (4%). The forth most experimented on animal is 2%. Pigs, rabbits, other fish, and birds (1%) are also experimented on.
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