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.

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.