More than 43,000 animals, including mice and rats, were used for research in University of Birmingham labs last year.
Details released under the Freedom of Information Act show 40,870 mice, 1,480 rats, 1,220 fish and 90 amphibians were used in the university’s laboratories in 2013.
The statistics have led The National Anti-Vivisection Society to call on the university to ditch the practice and pursue “more reliable” research methods. Only six universities who responded to the FOI request used more animals than Birmingham.