Domestic cats and dogs kept for research

The Animal Research Amendment (Right to Release) Act 2022 commenced in November 2022 and included additional annual reporting requirements regarding rehoming of domestic cats and dogs. 2023 was the first reporting period for which data were collected by the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (the department) in response to the commencement of this act.

The department previously conducted a survey on domestic cats and dog kept for research in reporting years 2019–2022. See section 5 of the 2022 Animal Use in Research Statistics report for further information and discussion of the survey outcomes.

The tables below provide data on individual cats and dogs kept by establishments in NSW for research in 2023 and 2024. These animals were not all necessarily used for research in the same reporting period. This contrasts with the fate of domestic cats and dogs tables, which provide data according to the number of times animals were used in a research project in each reporting period (and exclude animals that were not used).

Domestic cats kept for research 2023–2024

		Number of cats
		2023	2024
Kept on 1 January		220	245
Kept on 31 December		227	191
Born at the establishment		8	9
Obtained from outside the establishment		47	38
Supplied to another establishment for use in research		1	1
Rehomed		42	93
Unable to be rehomed after they either ceased to be used for research or had been kept for a total of three years
Euthanased	Total	3	6
	Euthanased because they were unable to be rehomed
	Euthanased because they were certified as unsuitable for rehoming
	Euthanased for another reason	3	6
Died (not euthanased)		2	1
Certified as unsuitable for rehoming

Domestic dogs kept for research 2023–2024

		Number of dogs
		2023	2024
Kept on 1 January		442	460
Kept on 31 December		456	441
Born at the establishment		57	81
Obtained from outside the establishment		19	30
Supplied to another establishment for use in research		9	15
Rehomed		43	96
Unable to be rehomed after they either ceased to be used for research or had been kept for a total of three years		1
Euthanased	Total	6	12
	Euthanased because they were unable to be rehomed
	Euthanased because they were certified as unsuitable for rehoming
	Euthanased for another reason	6	12
Died (not euthanased)		4	7
Certified as unsuitable for rehoming

Note: Discrepancies between 2023 and 2024 domestic cat and dog data may reflect new reporting guidance provided to establishments in relation to the Animal Research (Right to Release) Act 2022 in March 2025.

Description

Quantitative data reported to the department on individual cats and dogs kept by establishments in NSW for research in 2023 and 2024.

These data are collected by accredited research establishments on a calendar year basis and submitted to the department by 31 March of the following year.

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Metadata summary

Field	Value
Title	NSW animal research domestic cats and dogs kept (2023–2024)
Language	English
Licence	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Data status	Active
Update frequency	Annually
Date published	20/10/2025
Date updated
Contact point	NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development \| Animal Welfare Branch
Temporal coverage	2023-01-01–2024-12-31
Geospatial coverage	New South Wales
Jurisdiction	New South Wales
Publisher/agency	NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
Attribution	© NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development 2025
Citation	NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development 2025, NSW animal research domestic cats and dogs kept (2023–2024), accessed from Animal Ethics Infolink [https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/dpi/animals/animal-ethics-infolink/nsw-animal-use-statistics/animal-use-data], date accessed YYYY-MM-DD.

Data processing methodology summary

The accuracy of the data supplied is the responsibility of the reporting establishment.
The department checks the completeness and validity of data submitted. Where a potential data entry error is identified, the department contacts the establishment to verify the data and corrections are made if required.
The data are deidentified and aggregated for publication.