§ Lord HOUGHTON of SOWERBYasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many baboons have been used in recent experiments carried out at the Department of Neurosurgery, the London Hospital, relating to investigations into brain structures involved in spasticity.
§ Lord HARRIS of GREENWICHBetween 1972, when these experiments started, and 1st June 1975, 53 baboons were involved.
§ Lord HOUGHTON of SOWERBYasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the "operation" carried out at Harefield Hospital, reported in the Press on 24th May, linking a child's circulation to that of a baboon was (a). an experiment licensed under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876, or (b). an established surgical practice in the United Kingdom.
§ Lord HARRIS of GREENWICH(a). No.
(b). I am informed by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Social Services that this particular surgical procedure is of recent origin but the principle involved is of longer standing.
§ Lord HOUGHTON of SOWERBYasked Her Majesty's Government:
What licences have been applied for, or granted, to persons in the Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, for experiments to be carried out on Senegal baboons or other primates relating to the mechanisation of action of drugs in experimental epilepsy.
§ Lord HARRIS of GREENWICHSix persons at this Institute hold licences under the Cruelty to Animals Acts 1876 and are doing work of this type.