Reporting categories
Guide to reporting categories for NSW Animal Use in Research StatisticsDescription
Quantitative data reported to the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (the department) on the fate of domestic cats and dogs used for research in NSW.
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.
From the 2019 reporting year onwards, reporting on the fate of animals has been mandatory for the use of domestic dogs and cats, and voluntary for other animals.
Fate is reported for each year in which an animal is used in a research project, which means that:
- if an animal is not used in a research project in a reporting year, its fate is not counted for that year
- if an animal is used in multiple reporting years, its fate is counted in those additional years.
Fate is reported for animals in each project in which they are used. This means that if an animal is used in multiple projects within the same reporting year, its fate may be counted multiple times for that year.
The above factors mean that the resulting number of animal fates reported for domestic cats and dogs in a reporting period is greater than the number of individual cats and dogs reported to be kept for research in that same reporting period.
Downloads
Metadata summary
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | NSW animal research fate of domestic cats and dogs (2020–2024) |
| 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 | 2020-01-01–2024-12-31 |
| 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 fate of domestic cats and dogs (2020–2024), 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 of data entries and validity of reporting codes used. Where a potential data entry error is identified, the department contacts the establishment to verify the data and corrections are made if required.
- Animal use known to have occurred outside of NSW is excluded from published statistics.
- The data are deidentified and aggregated for publication.