animalsusedinexperimentseachyear.^22 (Thisfigureomits
animals who die in shipping or are killed before the
experimentbegins.)Astockmarketanalysisofjustonemajor
supplier of animals to laboratories, the Charles River
BreedingLaboratory,statedthatthiscompanyaloneproduced
22 million laboratory animals annually.^23
The 1988 report issued by the Department of Agriculture
listed140,471 dogs,42,271cats,51,641 primates, 431,457
guineapigs,331,945hamsters,459,254rabbits,and178,249
“wildanimals”:atotalof1,635,288usedinexperimentation.
Rememberthatthisreportdoesnotbothertocountratsand
mice,andcoversatmostanestimated 10 percentofthetotal
numberofanimalsused. Ofthenearly1.6millionanimals
reportedbytheDepartmentofAgriculturetohavebeenused
forexperimentalpurposes,over90,000arereportedtohave
experienced “unrelieved pain or distress.” Again, this is
probablyatmost 10 percentofthetotalnumberofanimals
sufferingunrelievedpainanddistress—andifexperimenters
arelessconcernedaboutcausingunrelievedpaintoratsand
micethantheyaretodogs,cats,andprimates,itcouldbean
even smaller proportion.
Otherdevelopednationsalluselargenumbersofanimals.In
Japan, forexample,a very incomplete surveypublishedin
1988 produced a total in excess of eight million.^24
Onewayofgraspingthenatureofanimalexperimentationas
alarge-scaleindustryistolookatthecommercialproductsto
which it gives rise and the way in which they are sold.
Among
these“products”are,ofcourse,theanimalsthemselves.We
have seen how many animals Charles River Breeding