Animal Experiments in 2021
Dear University of Abertay Dundee,
I am writing to make an open government request for all the information to which I
am entitled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I request to know the
information for the year 2021 (01/01/2021 to 31/12/2021).
1. Did your university conduct experiments on animals in the year 2021?
2. How many animals were used in experiments(species & number of each)?
3. How many animals were bred on the premises (species & number of each)?
4. What was the nature and outcome of these experiments?
5. What are the Home Office licence classifications for these experiments in
terms of pain, lasting harm, etc. if classified (species & number of each)?
6. Were the animals used for medical or non-medical research?
7. Which departments of your university were or are engaged in such research?
8. How many animals were killed without being used for experiments (species &
a number of each)?
9. How many animals were rehomed (species & number of each)?
10. Of those that were not re-homed, why not?
11. Does the university receive an income for performing animal research?
12. Does the university incur any costs by performing animal research?
13. Were there more non-animal research methods used than animal methods?
14. Which non-animal research methods are available at the university?
If any of this information is already in the public domain, please can you direct me to
it, with page references and URLs if necessary.
I understand that you are required to respond to my request within 20 working
days after you receive this letter. I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing
that you have received this request.
Yours faithfully,
Wendy Park
Thank you for your email.
Please note that Abertay University is closed from Friday 23 December 2022
to 3 January 2023 inclusive, and emails to this Inbox will not be
processed during the closure period.
We ask for your continued patience in the New Year as it may take some
time process your request, but please be assured that we will respond to
you as soon as possible when the University opens again on 4 January
2023.
Yours sincerely
FOI / Data Protection processing Team
Dear Wendy Park
Thank you for your enquiry, which has been logged and passed to the relevant department within the University for processing. Please quote the reference number on the subject line above, should you need to contact the University regarding this request.
The University will make every effort to provide you with the information requested; if any clarification is required, the University will contact you as soon as possible.
In some circumstances, it may not be possible to provide you with an answer to your enquiry. Where the University believes this is the case, you will be informed in writing, stating the reason(s).
If the information you are seeking is already published by the University, or is otherwise available to members of the public, you will be sent details outlining how to access the information.
You will be advised if it is necessary for the University to charge a fee to cover the costs of processing your request. Should this be the case, please note the information cannot be released until such payment is received.
If you have any questions regarding your request for information, please contact:
Yours sincerely,
FOI Processing
Abertay University
Bell Street
DUNDEE DD1 1HG
E-mail: [University of Abertay Dundee request email]
Abertay University is a registered Scottish charity, no. SC016040
Dear Wendy Park
Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (the "Act"). This was received by the University on 4 January 2023.
As you may be aware, the Act gives you the right to recorded information, rather than an entitlement to copies of specific documents. It is unclear in your request what testing you feel is covered by the phrase "non-animal testing". Therefore, the University is entitled to ask for clarification of this request.
As Abertay University does not carry out any animal testing (we have no license for this), potentially all of our research testing would be covered by your last question about non-animal research methods. Answering your last question (no. 14) as it stands would potentially cover lots of information that is irrelevant to what you are looking for. Please could you provide more specific information about what you are looking for in your request, or narrow down the terms of reference to the type of research covered by it? This may then help us to identify if this information is held and which (if any) documents contain it.
Please note, your request will not be processed further until we hear from you.
Your right to seek a review:
If you are dissatisfied with the way in which the University has dealt with your request, you have the right to ask us to review our actions and decisions. If you wish to request a review, please contact (within 40 working days)
Caroline Summers
Vice Principal (Strategy and Governance) and University Secretary,
Abertay University,
Bell Street, Dundee
DD1 1HG,
Email [University of Abertay Dundee request email]
Your request must be in a recordable format (letter, email, audio tape, etc). You will receive a response to your request for review within 20 working days of its receipt.
If you are dissatisfied within the way in which the University has handled your request for review, you have a right of appeal to the Commissioner. You can now make an appeal online, using the new Commissioner's Online Appeal Service. Please find a direct link to this service at www.itspublicknowledge.info/appeal. The online appeal service is available 24/7 and offers you real time help and advice about your appeal.
The Commissioner recommends that you appeal online.
Other ways to appeal include:-
by email: [email address]
by post: Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner, Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, KY16 9DS
Yours sincerely
FOI Processing
Abertay University
Bell Street
DUNDEE DD1 1HG
E-mail: [University of Abertay Dundee request email]
Abertay University is a registered Scottish charity, no. SC016040
Dear FOI,
Thank you for your reply, Caroline.
You said "It is unclear in your request what testing you feel is covered by the phrase "non-animal testing". Therefore, the University is entitled to ask for clarification of this request."
Non-animal testing whereby the researcher uses non-animal models such as 3D Printing & organ on a chip.
I am glad to hear Abertay University does hold a licence to carry out animal testing. I would appreciate knowing which non-animal models are used.
Yours sincerely,
Wendy Park
Dear Wendy Park
Thank you for your response. The definition is still however very broad - 3D printing, for example, could cover computer arts, or civil engineering research, which you may not be interested in.
Would you let us know what sort of research areas and / or the type of research techniques you are looking into please? For example, the research area of food science, or techniques where organic matter is being mimicked (i.e. where either animal or non-animal options could be used to conduct the same research but in this case Abertay would only be using the non-animal option).
A list of our courses in the study section of our website, and overview of research at Abertay in our brochure may help you to clarify your request.
Yours sincerely
FOI Processing
Abertay University
Bell Street
DUNDEE DD1 1HG
E-mail: [University of Abertay Dundee request email]
Abertay University is a registered Scottish charity, no. SC016040
Dear FOI,
Apologies, I need to correct myself. I wrote "I am glad to hear Abertay University does hold a licence to carry out animal testing. I would appreciate knowing which non-animal models are used." I did of course mean to say "I am glad to hear Abertay University does NOT hold a licence to carry out animal testing......."
The non-animal methods I would be interested in are the ones you now use instead of using animals. Did Abertay University ever use animals for testing? If so, is it known what non-animal models are now used in place of the animals?
Yours sincerely,
Wendy Park
Dear Wendy Park
We refer to your FOISA request received on 04 January 2023 and now attach the University's response.
Kind regards,
FOI Processing Team
Abertay University
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