Biography information for Grahame Morris – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Biography information for Grahame Morris on Home Office.

1

Norman Baker

Under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, any procedures
applied to animals for a scientific purpose which may cause pain, suffering,
distress or lasting harm require licence authorities. For a project to be
authorised, it must be assessed by a Home Office inspector and a harm-benefit
analysis performed.

The harm-benefit analysis considers the likely harms which may be experienced
by the animals as a consequence of the project, and compares these with the
benefits which may result and the likelihood of their delivery. A judgement is
made as to whether the likely harms are justified by the likely benefits.

The normally recommended age for separating puppies from their mothers is about
eight weeks. Therefore, a requirement for puppies to be separated from their
mothers at four weeks of age for a scientific purpose would be deemed to
require project licence authority. In such cases, Home Office Inspectors take
into account the distress caused to young puppies by such early separation as
part of the harm-benefit analysis.