Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what breeds of dogs were used in the 325 experiments (basic and applied research) listed in the Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals, Great Britain 2016, as being carried out on other breeds; and what those dogs were used for.
Answered by Ben Wallace
Breeds of dogs reported include Beagles, Labrador Retriever, Yorkshire Terrier, Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen and Jack Russell Terrier. These animals were used in nutrition and dentistry studies, the investigation of physiology, natural disease and its prevention.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the Government is doing to reduce the number of dogs used in experiments on living animals.
Answered by Ben Wallace
The published annual statistics of animals used under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) in Great Britain show that in 2016 less than 0.1% of animals used in research in Great Britain are dogs. Dogs are primarily used in procedures for regulatory testing. They are also used in other procedures such as nutritional studies and to better understand naturally occurring diseases and to develop treatments for dogs themselves.
Dogs are a specially protected species under ASPA. The Home Office will only grant a project licence for a programme of work using dogs where the purpose of the programme of work specified in the licence can only be achieved by their use, or where it is not practicable to obtain other suitable animals.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Table 2.1 of the Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals, Great Britain 2016, of the dogs born outside Europe (a) what countries those dogs came from, (b) how those dogs arrived in the UK, (c) how her Department ensured those dogs' welfare during transport and (d) what those dogs were used for when in the UK
Answered by Ben Wallace
(a) The Home Office does not capture data on the source country of imported dogs born outside the European Union.
(b) The Home Office do not hold data on how dogs were transported to the UK.
(C) The welfare of dogs transported to the UK is the responsibility of the sending country and the sending establishment. Animals are subject to import checks at Border Inspection Points (BIPs). These checks are carried out by staff from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
(d) Most imported dogs are used for regulatory and toxicological research.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what procedures are in place to ensure human rights legislation is complied with in respect of detainees in Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Human Rights Act 1998 requires that primary and subordinate legislation must be given effect in a way that is compatible with the Convention rights defined in Act.
Detainees in the immigration detention estate, including those in Dungavel immigration removal centre (IRC), must be treated in accordance with the Detention Centre Rules 2001, the operating standards for IRCs and Detention Services Orders.
Service providers for IRCs are contractually required to comply with all relevant UK legislation.
IRCs are subject to statutory oversight by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons and by Independent Monitoring Boards who are both members of the National Preventative Mechanism comprising a group of independent bodies which monitor the treatment of and conditions for detainees.
This contributes to the UK’s response to its international obligations under the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT).