Purpose of research involving animals

The University of St Andrews carries out research with animals under the Animal (Scientific Procedures) Act (ASPA), 1986.

The research carried out by the University ranges from animal behaviour and conservation, through to neuroscience and physiology.

Research involving animals is carried out in the following general areas:

animal behaviour and their nervous system
animal biology and reproductive systems
how animals interact with their environment and can be better protected in the wild.

In 2023, the University carried out 6,469 procedures on 5,040 animals under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act (ASPA).

The majority of these animals were fish (47.1%) and mice (42%).

A procedure may include the natural breeding of genetically altered animals, where the birth of each animal, such as a mouse, counts as one procedure.

The Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals, Great Britain, 2020 reported that a total of 2.88 million regulated procedures were completed, of which 1.44 million were for breeding and maintaining genetic lines. Research at the University of St Andrews is, therefore, less than 0.2% of licenced procedures on animals in Great Britain.

The following table shows the number of animals used by the University of St Andrews for regulated procedures.

Species	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019
Birds	174	64	186	256	365
Clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis)	202	68	112	106	88
Mice	2119	1,997	2,690	1,644	3,012
Rats	46	70	105	81	97
Fish	2375	2,618	1,726	152	23
Seals	117	39*	52*	0*	24*
Bats	7	0	0	0	0

*The number of seals provided is the number handled and released as reported to the Scottish Government under the Marine (Scotland) Act licence.

In 2023 at the University of St Andrews, 39% of the animals involved in research under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act (ASPA) experienced mild pain or suffering such as having an injection, blood sampling or being single housed.

40% of the animals involved in research under ASPA experienced a level below threshold; these were typically used for breeding. This is where animals did not experience any harm from being involved in research.

1.0% of the animals involved in research under ASPA experienced moderate pain or suffering, these animals may have had surgery under anaesthesia for research to address human medical disorders, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

20% of the animals involved in research under ASPA were part of non-recovery procedures. During non-recovery procedures, the animal is placed under general anaesthetic before the start of the procedure and is humanely killed without ever regaining consciousness. The majority of these animals were larval zebrafish.

No animals involved in research under ASPA were categorised as having experienced severe pain or suffering.
The University aims to be open about research which involves animals and is a signatory to the Concordat on Openness, which encourages best practice when engaging with the public about research involving animals.

Many of our researchers are involved with delivering a wide variety of events that covers research involving animals. Audiences have included:
- families and schools
- tourists and visitor audiences through partnership with attractions
- uniformed youth groups (scouts, guides, etc.)
- online groups
- prison learners
For the Concordat on Openness reporting period for 2018 to 2019, at least 55 individual researchers delivered at least 35 events on research that involves animals

Purpose of research involving animals

How many animals are involved in research?

What have the animals experienced?

How do we engage with the public on animal research?