Experiments on cats and dogs
in France

A report by Drs Chris Langley MA PhD
and Gill Langley MA Phd MIBiol

March 2003

CHAPTER 4
NUMBERS AND TYPES OF EXPERIMENTS ON CATS AND DOGS
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This Chapter analyses information about cat and dog experiments provided by the national statistics. In the first section, the information for 1999 is presented, and the second section deals with historical trends in experiments on cats and dogs.

According to the European Union (EU) (36) statistics relating to 1996 (1997 in the case of France), France uses more cats in experiments than any other EU member state. It ranks third in the numbers of dogs used in research and testing, after the UK and Germany.

Unlike many EU member states, which provide statistics of animal experiments on an annual basis, the French government’s statistics are published at irregular intervals (ranging from two to four years), the most recent being for 1999. The statistics are collected by means of a questionnaire circulated to all laboratories. Like all such information, the statistics depend on the accuracy and honesty of those who complete the questionnaire.

The details and organisation of the statistics have evolved over the years and they now provide information on numbers of animals of different species and their origins, sub-divided into categories of experiments by purpose. These include fundamental biological research; the study of human and animal diseases; toxicity and other safety tests for medical and other products; production and quality control of medical, dental and veterinary products and appliances; and education and training.

Numbers of animal experiments carried out by legislative requirement (such as the safety testing of medicines and other substances) are provided, as well as information about experiments conducted by private and public sector laboratories. Public sector laboratories include universities and government centres such as INSERM and CNRS, as well as associations and foundations.

Experiments on cats and dogs in 1999
In 1999, the total number of experiments conducted on all animals was 2 309 597 (37). This is a decrease of 37 per cent from the same figure for 1990, and the reduction has occurred mainly in private sector laboratories.
Experiments were conducted on a total of 1 855 cats and 5 203 dogs. Of these, the majority for both species was used by the private sector, i.e. 1 198 (65 per cent) of the cats and 4 319 (83 per cent) of the dogs.
Table 4.1 (below) uses data from the Ministry of Research report for 1999 and shows the numbers of cats and dogs used in experiments as categorised by their general purpose. No cats or dogs were used for diagnostic purposes and none were killed to provide cells or tissues for in vitro studies. No cats were used for education and training, although 67 dogs were used for this purpose. Of these, 17 dogs were used by public sector laboratories, probably universities, and 50 were used by private sector laboratories. The use of dogs in education or training is ethically unacceptable, especially given the range of non-animal alternatives available for these purposes.

Table 4.1 Numbers of cats and dogs used in experiments in 1999, categorised by general purpose

	Cats	Dogs
Species Fundamental biological research	151	20
Research & development of medical, dental & veterinary products	1 191	2 220
appliances Production & quality control of medical & dental products	14	0
appliances Production & quality control of veterinary products	210	410
appliances Toxicity & safety tests, incl. medical, dental & veterinary products	184	2 486
appliances Diagnosis of disease	0	0
Education & training	0	67
Other	105	0
Total	1 855	5 203

Fundamental biological research
This category of research normally includes experiments conducted purely for discovering fundamental knowledge, without a practical application in view; as well as experiments carried out using animals as ‘models’ of humans, particularly to research human diseases. 151 cats and 20 dogs were used in this type of research in 1999.
However, the government statistics seem to indicate that no cats or dogs were used in purely fundamental research, since the figures provided for research into human and animal diseases (38) include all the cats and dogs used in fundamental biological research plus those used in research and development of drugs etc (see below). It would be surprising if no cats or dogs were used in experiments designed solely to provide fundamental knowledge without practical applications. This is especially so as public rather than private sector laboratories accounted for most of the cat and dog experiments in this category, i.e. for 143 of 151 cats, and for all 20 dogs.

Where animals were used to study diseases, cats were more often used to study animal diseases while dogs were most frequently used in research into human diseases, mainly cardiovascular illnesses (see Experiments for the study of human and animal diseases, below).

Research and development of medical, dental and veterinary products and appliances
The largest number of cat experiments (1 191), and the second-largest for dogs
(2 220), was for research and development of human medical and dental products and appliances, as well as for veterinary products and appliances.
This purpose includes the research and development of new drugs and testing them for efficacy, but excludes toxicity or other safety testing (see below). Dogs are frequently used for studies of the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of novel drugs, and it is likely that those studies are included under this heading. The government statistics show that none of the drugs developed using cats and dogs were for treating cancer. In general, ‘appliances’ could refer to medical or veterinary devices such as a new artificial hip, knee or heart valve, or simply a novel catheter design; dental items could include new tooth filling materials or implants.
As expected, the private sector – mainly drug companies – conducted most of the experiments in this category, using 1 955 dogs (88 per cent of dogs used for this purpose) and 1 026 cats (86 per cent of cats used for this purpose).

Production and quality control of products and appliances for medical, dental and veterinary use
Some animals, mainly rodents, are used in the production of substances or factors used in human medicine or dentistry, or in veterinary treatment. This could include the production of therapeutic polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies or of infectious agents, such as viruses, from which vaccines are made. Quality control usually refers to the routine testing of batches of biological medicines, such as vaccines or toxins, to ensure purity or a standard potency. There is national, EU and other legislation which requires certain tests of this kind on animals.
Table 4.1 (above) has two columns relating to the production and quality control of therapeutic products. Only 14 cats were used in this category for human therapeutics, but the second-largest number of cat experiments overall (210) was for the production and quality control of veterinary products and appliances, including vaccines. All 224 cats were used in tests laid down by EU legislation, including the European Pharmacopoeia.

Table 5 of the Ministry’s report for 1999 appears to contain an anomaly: as well as 224 cats being shown as described above, the Table lists 370 additional cats being used in tests laid down by two or more legislative requirements. However, these 370 cats do not appear in the total for that Table. Since they are not shown in the Ministry’s Table 2 under the headings of production and quality control, it is assumed that the figure 370 in Table 5 is a mistake.
Experiments for the production and quality control of veterinary, but not human, medicines and appliances used 410 dogs, and all were required by EU legislation.

Toxicity and other safety tests for all substances including for medical, dental and veterinary products and appliances
The majority of experiments on dogs (2 434), but fewer on cats (184), were conducted for the purpose of testing the safety of drugs and appliances for human medical and dental use, as well as for veterinary use. Somewhat surprisingly, no dogs (or cats) were used to test the safety of agricultural, household or industrial chemicals, or of food additives, cosmetics or toiletries. However, fifty-two dogs were used in “other” toxicity or safety tests, presumably not related to therapeutic product testing, which were not specified in the government statistics.
Table 4.2 shows more details of the types of toxicity tests on dogs and cats. No cats or dogs were used in acute lethal tests, or in tests for eye irritation, skin sensitization (allergic reaction), carcinogenicity, mutagenicity or reproductive toxicity.

Table 4.2 Types of toxicity and other safety tests conducted on cats and dogs for all substances including for medical, dental and veterinary products and appliances in 1999

European and international regulations require that new drugs for humans should be tested in a rodent species and also in a non-rodent species, usually dogs or primates. For veterinary drugs, the EU and the USA regulatory bodies also require testing on a rodent and a non-rodent species, usually the dog. In 1999, 96 per cent of the dogs
(2 383) experimented upon for this purpose were used in studies required by legislation, whether national, EU or other laws or regulations. But 103 dogs were used in toxicity tests which were not a legislative requirement. A more detailed discussion of the use of dogs in the safety testing of human drugs is in Chapter 5.

The tests on dogs required by international regulations include repeat-dose toxicity studies (lasting between two weeks and 12 months); and safety pharmacology studies, which often use dogs to look for unwanted, adverse effects of novel drugs mainly on the cardiovascular, respiratory and central nervous systems.

The statistics show (Table 4.2, above) that 341 dogs (but no cats) were used in acute and sub-acute tests, and 1 699 dogs and 184 cats in sub-chronic and chronic tests. In acute tests, a single dose is given to each animal, and different groups of animals receive different dose levels ranging from low to high. In sub-acute tests, dosing is daily for 28 days. Repeat dosing also takes place in sub-chronic tests, which last for 90 days, and in chronic tests which last longer (six or 12 months). Animals may be dosed orally, or by an injection into a vein or into the abdomen.
At the highest doses, animals will suffer some symptoms of poisoning. Depending on the drug or other substance being tested, these effects can include salivation, vomiting, diarrhoea, bleeding from the nose or anus, discharge from the eyes, swelling, tremor, unsteady movements, loss of appetite, excited behaviour, aggression, coma or death. All animals are killed at the end of the test to permit post-mortem studies of organs and tissues, to identify toxic effects.

Table 4.2 also shows that 95 dogs were used in skin irritation tests in 1999, which is unusual, as rabbits are the preferred species for these tests. Three hundred and fifty-one dogs were used in other, unspecified kinds of toxicity tests.

Experiments for the study of human and animal diseases
This category of experiments is shown in Table 4 of the Ministry’s report for 1999. A total of 1 342 cats and 2 240 dogs were used for this purpose. These figures are the sum of two other categories of experiments, i.e. fundamental biological research plus research and development of medical, dental and veterinary products and appliances (see above).
Table 4.3 below shows, more specifically, the kinds of studies for which cats and dogs were used.
In 1999, studies of human cardiovascular diseases used 577 dogs (but no cats). Dogs are often used in cardiovascular research, but some of these studies probably include efficacy testing of novel human medicines and studying their absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion in dogs.
Studies of human nervous system and mental disorders used 19 cats. While no further details were provided, cats are quite often used to study sleep, vision, strokes and migraine, and some of the 19 cats may have been experimented on for these purposes (see Chapters 5 and 6). Twenty-four dogs were also used.

Table 4.3 Main categories of experiments on cats and dogs for studying human and animal diseases in 1999

	Cats	Dogs
Species Human cardiovascular diseases	0	577
Human nervous system & mental disorders	19	24
Human cancers	0	0
Other human diseases	186	892
Animal diseases	1 137	747
Total of these categories	1 342	2 240

No cats or dogs were used in research into human cancer, but unspecified “other” human disease studies involved 186 cats and 892 dogs. These might include research into disorders of respiration, skin, muscles, joints, reproduction or digestion. Since this “other” category accounts for a significant number of experiments, the government should provide a breakdown of this figure in future statistics.
1 137 cats and 747 dogs were used to study animal diseases and to research and develop veterinary treatments for them. The study of veterinary diseases and the development of treatments should not involve artificially inducing illnesses in cats and dogs. Studies should be conducted in vitro where possible, and only in vivo on animals who have a chance of individually benefiting, in the same way that human patients do in clinical trials.

Historical trends
This analysis is based on the statistics for animal experiments produced by the government for the years 1990 (39), 1993 (40), 1997 (41) and 1999 (42). Some categories in the statistics have been re-organised, so that direct comparisons between 1990 and 1999 are not always possible.
Over this ten-year period, the total number of experiments on animals fell from
3 645 708 to 2 309 597, an overall decrease of 37 per cent. The periodic decreases between each set of statistics were fairly consistent: 1990/1993, a decrease of 19 per cent; 1993/1997, a decrease of 11 per cent; and 1997/1999, a decrease of 11 per cent. These figures indicate a genuine trend towards reducing the overall numbers of experiments on all animals.
Over the same period, experiments on cats decreased from 2 808 to 1 855, a reduction of 34 per cent. For dogs, there was a reduction from 7 721 to 5 203, a drop of 33 per cent. One particular area where numbers have dropped significantly is in the use of cats and dogs for research into human and veterinary diseases. However, these simple figures disguise some significant variability between each set of statistics, as shown in Table 4.4, below.

Table 4.4 Trends in cat and dog experiments, 1990-1999

	1990	1993		1997		1999		1990/1999
Species	Number	Number	% change ’90/93	Number	% change ’93/97	Number	% change ’97/99	10-year % change
Cats	2 808	1 140	- 59%	1 990	+75%	1 855	-7%	-34%
Dogs	7 721	4 965	-36%	4 290	-14%	5 203	+33%	-33%

This analysis shows that there was a large decrease in experiments on dogs and cats between 1990 and 1993, but by 1997 the reduction in use of dogs was only 14 per cent, while the use of cats rose by a massive 75 per cent. The trend reversed again between 1997 and 1999, with cat experiments falling slightly by 7 per cent, but dog experiments rising by one-third. Scrutiny of these statistics therefore reveals that the numbers of cat and dog experiments in 1999 were actually higher than in 1993.
The government statistics show that responsibility for failing to consistently reduce the numbers of cats and dogs used in experiments must be shared by both public and private sector laboratories. Table 4.5 (below) presents the figures. In the public sector, the use of cats increased by a massive 251 per cent in 1999 (from 187 to 657), while dog experiments increased by 86 per cent (475 to 884) in the same year. The use of cats by the private sector grew by 158 per cent (700 to 1 803) in 1997, and dog experiments by 13 per cent (from 3 815 to 4 319) in 1999. Although the use of cats fell in both sectors over the ten-year period as a whole, the public sector actually increased its use of dogs by 48 per cent over that period. The decreasing use of dogs over the same period by the private sector counteracted this rise.

Table 4.5 Trends in cat and dog experiments by the public and private sectors, 1990-1999

Public sector Private sector Total
Species	1990	1993	1997	1999	1990	1993	1997	1999	1999
Cats	849	440	187	657	1 959	700	1 803	1 198	1 855
Dogs	597	575	475	884	7 124	4 390	3 815	4 319	5 203

These figures are a cause of serious concern, as they indicate that there is no consistent trend for reduction and that laboratories are not adequately implementing the Three Rs Principles, that is:
* The Replacement of cat and dog experiments (e.g. with non-animal methods or ethical human studies);
* The Reduction of numbers of cats and dogs used in each experiment; and
* The Refinement of experimental protocols so as to minimise the suffering experienced by cats and dogs.

Detailed critiques of selected experiments on cats and dogs, including proposals for non-animal methods of pursuing the research, are provided in Chapter 6.

 

(36) Commission of the European Communities [1999] Second Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the Statistics on the Number of Animals used for Experimental and other Scientific Purposes in the Mermber States of the European Union.
(37) Ministère de la Recherche: Enquête sur l’utilisation d’animaux vertébrés à des fins expérimentales en France, Statistiques 1999.
(38) See p 23 of the Ministry’s Report for 1999.
(39) Ministère de la Recherche et de l’Espace: Enquête sur l’utilisation d’animaux vertébrés à des fins expérimentales en France, Statistiques 1990.
(40) Ministère de l’Education Nationale de l’Enseignement Supérieur, de la Recherche et de l’Insertion Professionnelle: Enquête sur l’utilisation d’animaux vertébrés à des fins expérimentales en France, Statistiques 1993.
(41) Ministère de l’Education Nationale, de la Recherche et de la Technologie: Rapport d’Enquête sur l’utilisation d’animaux vertébrés à des fins expérimentales en France, Statistiques 1997.
(42) Ministère de la Recherche: Enquête sur l’utilisation d’animaux vertébrés à des fins expérimentales en France, Statistiques 1999.