1.1 During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,
a number of pieces of legislation relating to animal treatment
were passed in the UK. In 1781 the statutory surveillance of the
treatment of cattle at Smithfield was introduced and this was
soon followed by the licensing of slaughterhouses with attention
being paid to humane killing methods. In 1822 a Bill was passed
which stated that "if any person or persons having the charge,
care or custody of any horse, cow, ox, heifer, steer, sheep or
other cattle, the property of any other person or persons, shall
wantonly beat, abuse or ill-treat any such animal, such individuals
shall be brought before a Justice of the Peace or other magistrate".
1.2 Many other anti-cruelty Acts followed including
the 1876 Cruelty to Animals Act and the 1911 Protection of Animals
Act. The 1876 Act regulated vivisection and introduced a licensing
and inspection system. The 1911 Act made it an offence to "cruelly
beat, kick, ill-treat, over-drive, over-ride, overload, torture,
infuriate or terrify any animal". It also forbade the causing
of unnecessary suffering, but with certain categories of exemptions,
one of which was vivisection.
1.3 The 1876 Act remained in force in the regulation
of animal experiments until 1986. Since then, animal procedures
in the UK have been regulated under the Animals (Scientific Procedures)
Act. Some of the principal features of the Act are set out below:
(i) the Act covers all
non-human vertebrates and the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris).
Mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish are protected, while
invertebrate creatures such as squid, insects and protozoa are
excluded;[5]
(ii) the Act regulates any experimental or scientific
procedure which may have the effect of causing a protected animal
"pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm";[6]
(iii) the Act requires that all regulated procedures
are carried out under three licences: a personal licence for the
scientific investigator; a licence for the establishment where
the procedure is to take place; and a project licence which details
the numbers and types of animals to be used, the exact procedures
to be performed, and the overall purpose of the project;[7]
(iv) the key element of the Act is commonly known
as the cost/benefit analysis. This is applied to all proposed
animal research in a project licence, and is defined as the weighing
of "the likely adverse effects on the animals concerned against
the benefit likely to accrue".[8]
The analysis, and hence the decision whether to grant a licence
or not, is made by the Secretary of State on the advice of the
Inspectorate;
(v) in addition, a project licence should not
be granted if there is a "reasonably practicable method not
entailing the use of protected animals", that is, an animal
experiment should not be licensed if there is a realistic non-animal
method.[9]
Where animals are used, the procedures must use "the minimum
number of animals, involve animals with the lowest degree of neurophysiological
sensitivity, cause the least pain, suffering distress or lasting
harm, and are most likely to produce satisfactory results";[10]
(vi) there is an Inspectorate, whose members
advise on the granting of licences and carry out inspections of
designated establishments.[11]
The Inspectorate currently make some 2,100 visits each year, of
which about two thirds are unannounced (Q. 130);
(vii) an independent committee, the Animal Procedures
Committee (APC), advises the Secretary of State on the operation
of the Act.[12]
The APC currently has 22 members, and includes a barrister, philosophers
and representatives from industry, academia, funding bodies, and
animal welfare and anti-vivisection groups.[13]
The APC considers some of the most controversial project licence
applications, such as the use of non-human primates in procedures
of substantial severity, and the use of animals to practise microsurgery.[14]
In its deliberations, the APC is enjoined to have regard "both
to the legitimate requirements of science and industry and to
the protection of animals against avoidable suffering and unnecessary
use in scientific procedures".[15]
The APC publishes an annual report which is laid before Parliament;[16]
(viii) Statistics of Scientific Procedures
on Living Animals (the Statistics) for Great Britain
are published annually by the Home Office. Equivalent statistics
for Northern Ireland are published annually by the Department
of Health, Social Services and Public Safety;[17]
(ix) Section 24 of the Act prevents the Inspectorate,
or any other official who receives confidential information in
the course of carrying out duties under the Act, from disclosing
that information. In practice, this means that there is no requirement
for the details of any animal procedure to be made public. The
Inspectorate are also prohibited from making public details of
any breaches of the Act, although a summary of infringements is
included with the annual Statistics.
1.4 Subsequent to the passing of the 1986 Act
there have been a number of developments with regard to its implementation.
In its 1996 annual report, presented to the incoming government
in August 1997, the APC published an interim review of the operation
of the Act. It concluded that the Act did not require radical
reform but recommended a number of changes so as, inter alia,
to help the Inspectorate and give the public a better understanding
of the cost/benefit assessment; to document the consideration
of non-animal methods in project licences; to provide appropriate
training for those involved in the killing of animals; to publicise
how infringements of the Act are handled by the Home Office; and
to increase the size of the Inspectorate and its administrative
support. The Government accepted these and other recommendations:
some have already been implemented; others await implementation.
1.5 Since the 1997 review by the APC, a number
of other regulatory developments have taken place, including:
