§ Mr. Corbettasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many experiments, by species, have been conducted at Porton Down in each of the last five years on live animals with no anaesthesia at any stage.
§ Mr. LeeAll experiments involving the use of animals at the chemical defence establishment Porton Down are conducted in full compliance with the requirements of the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876. In the case of wounding studies all animals are deeply anaesthetised when wounded. In a proportion of these experiments, animals are allowed to recover from anaesthesia, analgesics being administered to relive pain. Many experiments in other areas of CDE's work, including the chemical defence programme which accounts for the bulk of experiments, involve minimal, if any, discomfort. In others the use of anaesthetics would vitiate the purpose of the experiment, but analgesics may be used to relieve pain. If on any occasion an animal is found to be suffering severe pain which is likely to endure it is at once painlessly killed.
For reasons of national security, it is not possible to give details of experiments by species. The species principally used are guinea pigs, rats and mice. Some rabbits and other species have also been used. The total number of experiments without anaesthesia is readily available only for the last four years. This information is as follows:
Nunber of experiments 1980 16,700 1981 16,300 1982 12,700 1983 9,000