§ Sir Richard Glynasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) at how many premises in England and Wales experiments involving vivisection of dogs, cats or horses were carried out in the 12 months to the latest convenient date; at how many premises less than 10 acts of vivisection on dogs, cats or horses were carried out; at how many more than 50 were carried out; at how many more than 100 were carried out; and how many visits were paid by his inspectors to the premises falling into each of these three categories;
(2) how many premises in England and Wales are licensed for vivisection; at how many such premises less than 50 acts of vivisection, over 150 acts, and over 500 acts, respectively, were carried out in the 12 months to the latest convenient date; and how many visits were paid by his inspectors to the premises falling into each of these three categories.
§ Mr. George ThomasI regret that this information is not available. Information is collected from each person licensed under the Cruelty to Animals Act, 1876 about the numbers of experiments he has performed under the Act in the calendar year, and this includes details of the numbers of experiments on cats, dogs and horses. The totals in 1964 were 14,036 on cats, 13,169 on dogs and 281 on horses. Some licensees are authorised to perform experiments in more than one registered place, but they are not required to report the numbers performed at each place. From the returns available, therefore, it is not possible to classify registered places according to the numbers of experiments performed therein.
25WDuring 1964 there were at one time or another 575 places registered under the Act, but some of these comprise a number of separate laboratories and animal houses. For the reason given above it is not possible to classify laboratories according to the number of experiments of particular kinds performed there. The inspectors paid 2,170 visits to registered places during 1964.