§ Mr. Burdenasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many experiments on living animals performed by persons licensed under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 for each of the years 1971, 1972 and 1973 were for the testing of weapons.
§ Dr. SummerskillLicences are not issued under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 for the purpose of testing weapons.
§ Mr. Burdenasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many experiments on living animals performed by persons licensed under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 for each of the years 1971, 1972 and 1973 were for the testing of pesticides.
§ Dr. SummerskillDetails of the number of experiments on living animals for testing the effect of pesticides on men or animals are not available.
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§ Mr. Burdenasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many experiments on living animals performed by persons licensed under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 during the years 1971, 1972 and 1973 caused pain, in that they produced evidence of suffering by the experimental animal;
(2) how many times during the years 1971, 1972 and 1973 special permission was given by the Home Office licensing authority for the administration of curariform or other paralysant drugs to an animal during an experimental procedure under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 without rendering the animal unconscious at the time of the experiment;
(3) how many licensees under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 are classified as technicians.
§ Dr. SummerskillThis information is not available.
§ Mr. Burdenasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many experiments on living animals were performed in Crown laboratories which do not appear as part of the total number of experiments reported in the return of experiments performed under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876, during 1972 and 1973.
§ Dr. SummerskillExperiments in Crown laboratories are included in the return.
§ Mr. Burdenasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many behavioural experiments involving electric shock or other forms of punishment were performed by persons not licensed by the Home Office under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 during the years 1971, 1972 and 1973.
§ Dr. SummerskillAny such experiment which involved discomfort or interference with the animal's ordinary state of health would require a licence under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876. We have no information about any such experiments which do not fall within the definition of the Act and so can be lawfully performed without a licence.
§ Mr. Burdenasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how 363W often the 14 inspectors responsible for overseeing the welfare of laboratory animals visit each establishment licensed to carry out visits to these premises annually.
§ Dr. SummerskillVisits to individual establishments are carried out as necessary and the number of visits made to any individual establishment depends on a number of factors, such as size, workload and the number of licensees performing experiments. In 1972, over 4,000 visits were made to the 592 places then registered for the purpose of experiments on living animals.
§ Mr. Burdenasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how often in the course of a year Home Office inspectors responsible for granting licences for experiments on live animals see individual licensees.
§ Dr. SummerskillThe inspectors appointed under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 see individual persons granted licences by the Secretary of State as and when the need arises.
§ Mr. Burdenasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of animals, to which poisons were administered by licensees under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876, were allowed to die of the effects of the poisons without the use of analgesics.
§ Dr. SummerskillThis information is not available, but the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 itself imposes restrictions on the infliction of pain and my right hon. Friend uses his powers of licensing to impose other conditions which prohibit any animal under experiment being allowed to suffer severe pain that is likely to endure or to suffer avoidable pain of any kind.