HC Deb 18 July 1910 vol 19 cc848-9
Dr. ADDISON

asked the Home Secretary whether, in view of the fact that the operation of spaying two rabbits under an anæsthetic by a skilled operator without his licence being in order has been declared a contravention of the Cruelty to Animals Act, 1876, he proposes to take any action in regard to the corresponding operation which is performed in numbers of cases on young pigs and on young male cattle and sheep in this country every year by unqualified persons, and without an anæsthetic?

Mr. CHURCHILL

No, Sir. The operation on the rabbits, being "an experiment calculated to give pain" and performed without the necessary authorisation, was a breach of the Cruelty to Animals Act, 1876. The other operations to which my hon. Friend refers do not come within that Act; and I am advised that there is nothing illegal in them if carried out bonâ fide for commercial or domestic purposes and without causing unnecessary suffering. I have no evidence that the existing law with regard to them requires amendment.

Dr. ADDISON

Would the right hon. Gentleman be good enough to say if this operation on rabbits performed by skilled operators and without pain to the animal is considered an offence under the Cruelty to Animals Act why persons are allowed to perform, perfectly untrained, the same operation on other animals without skill and with the infliction of pain?

Mr. CHURCHILL

I do not know that this operation is ever performed on rabbits bonâ fide for medical purposes. Obviously, an operation of a character that is performed already is one that would come within the scope of the Act.

Mr. GIBSON BOWLES

Is it prohibited for one class of animals and not for another?

Mr. CHURCHILL

The law of the country has been framed in order to restrict and regulate operations upon animals for the purposes of scientific investigation, but it has not hitherto restricted the ordinary actions which are taken for commercial purposes in regard to certain animals.

Mr. CHARLES BATHURST

Is it true as suggested in this question that these operations on young farm animals are conducted by unqualified persons, and that if performed by properly qualified persons they constitute cruelty?

Mr. CHURCHILL

They do not come within the scope of the Act, in my opinion.