§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many project licences issued under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 involve interference with either organs of special sense or the brain520W of cats; and of those how many were carried out on (a) conscious cats, (b) decerebrate cats and (c) cats under terminal anaesthesia, in the last available year. [31646]
§ Mr. George HowarthDuring 1996, 17 project licence holders reported carrying out procedures using cats and involving organs of special sense or the brain. Of these, none involved conscious cats.
Information which might distinguish those involving decerebrate cats from those carried out under terminal anaesthesia is not kept centrally. In total, 15 of the projects involved either decerebrate cats or terminal anaesthesia.
In the remaining two projects, general anaesthesia was used and the cats were allowed to recover consciousness.
§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many project licences issued under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 that are currently in force and involve the use of cats have(a) mild severity bandings, (b) moderate severity bandings, (c) substantial severity bandings and (d) unclassified severity bandings. [31645]
§ Mr. George HowarthCentral records show that the total number of current project licences authorising the use of cats is 110. The number in each severity category is as follows:
- (a) mild—40;
- (b) moderate—59;
- (c) substantial—none; and
- (d) unclassified—11.