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Animal Experiments: Dogs

Original answer

The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) with the Home Office and Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs involvement is leading on a strategy to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternatives to animal testing which is scheduled for publication later this year.

Pharmaceutical legislation requires that, before a medicine can be approved for testing in humans, it is tested in a rodent and non-rodent species under international guidelines. This may include dogs as an appropriate model. The majority of Beagles bred for use in science (85%) are for the purposes of regulatory testing under legislation on pharmaceutical products for human use. The number of Beagles bred is largely determined by the forecast needs of the pharmaceutical industry that require testing of medicines.

The Home Office regulator ensures compliance of all work licensed with the rigorous requirements of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act. The number of animals used in scientific research and testing, including Beagles, is published annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-regulation-unit#statistics.

The Home Office assures that, in every research proposal, animals are replaced with non-animal alternatives wherever possible, the number of animals are reduced to the minimum necessary to achieve the result sought, and that, for those animals which must be used, procedures are refined as much as possible to minimise their suffering.

The answer was corrected by Dan Jarvis (Labour)

on Thursday, 24 April 2025 on behalf of the Home Office.

Corrected answer

The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) with the Home Office and Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs involvement is leading on a strategy to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternatives to animal testing which is scheduled for publication later this year.

Pharmaceutical legislation requires that, before a medicine can be approved for testing in humans, it is tested in a rodent and non-rodent species under international guidelines. This may include dogs as an appropriate model. The majority of Beagles bred for use in science (85%) are for the purposes of regulatory testing under legislation on pharmaceutical products for human use. The number of Beagles bred is largely determined by the forecast needs of the pharmaceutical industry that require testing of medicines.

The Home Office regulator ensures compliance of all work licensed with the rigorous requirements of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act. The number of animals used in scientific research and testing, including Beagles, is published annually at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-regulation-unit#statistics.

The Home Office assures that, in every research proposal, animals are replaced with non-animal alternatives wherever possible, the number of animals are reduced to the minimum necessary to achieve the result sought, and that, for those animals which must be used, procedures are refined as much as possible to minimise their suffering.

With reference to the Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals in Great Britain 2023, Table 7.3, the 12 procedures carried out on beagles were to satisfy legislative requirements on the testing of medicinal products for human use.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

45836

Session

2024-26

Subjects

Animal experiments Dogs

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk