Scientific procedures involving animals at lowest level since 2010

But animal rights groups say more should be done to reduce those bred with genetic alterations

Scientific procedures involving animals are at their lowest level since 2010, but animal rights groups say the government is not doing enough to reduce the number of animals bred with genetic alterations.

New statistics released by the Home Office show there were almost 3.8m scientific procedures involving animals in 2017, a 4% drop on the previous year. These included 1.89m experiments on live animals - with reasons ranging from legally required drug testing to surgical training.