HC Deb 03 April 1969 vol 781 cc153-4W
Sir R. Russell

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the live dogs, cats and equidae subjected to experiments in 1967 were the subjects of more than one experiment; and how many of each were destroyed.

Mr. Merlyn Rees

The Cruelty to Animals Act, 1876, requires that an animal subjected to any experiment, other than one performed entirely without anaesthetics, must be killed as soon as the object of the experiment has been

Date Number of convictions Total of fines awarded Total of back duty ordered Total of costs awarded
£ £ s. d. £ s. d.
12th February, 1969 25 855 357 5 0 53 5 0
19th February, 1969 30 720 298 4 2 63 0 0
26th February, 1969 24 420 189 6 8 50 8 0
The convictions were all of vehicle excise offences.
The figures exclude proceedings at the juvenile court.

achieved. The 7,021 dogs, 12,717 cats and 211 aquidae used in 1967 in experiments conducted wholly or partly under anaesthesia would, therefore, have been killed at the end of the relevant experiments. Licence-holders are not required to return details of the disposal of animals used in experiments carried out without anaesthetics, and I am unable to say what proportion of the dogs, cats and equidae used in such experiments were subjected to further experiments, destroyed or otherwise disposed of.