Compulsory retirement of all research animals

As this e-petition has received more than 10 000 signatures, the relevant Government department have provided the following response:

European Directive 2010/63/EU, which was implemented in the UK and other Member States on 1 January 2013, sets out the conditions under which animals may be re-homed in Article 19. These provisions are reflected in our Guidance on the Operation of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1983, section 5.21.

There are no legislative proposals to make the homing of animals which are no longer required for experimentation a mandatory requirement for laboratories. Article 2 of the Directive only allows us to maintain stricter measures that were in force in 2010, it does not allow us to impose stricter measures now. It is designed to provide conformity of provisions across Member States.

Re-homing is not amenable to legislation as all the legislation could say is that animals should be re-homed where it is appropriate. There is already current guidance which states this. Each project and each animal is different so no general rules could be made.

Consideration is normally given to the release of animals from the controls of the Act if there is no scientific requirement for them to be humanely killed at the end of the procedures as part of the necessary data collection. Some animals are not released if veterinary advice indicates that they may not remain in good health, or that their individual temperament would not be suited to such an environment.

The Home Office intends to provide further advice about the re-homing of laboratory animals from licensed establishments where the provisions of the legislation allow this to happen. Animals which have been born into and lived all their lives under laboratory conditions may not be able to adapt to a different lifestyle and may be very distressed by such change. There must be provision for careful individual assessment as well as a structured socialisation programme to ensure that re-homing is indeed in the best interests of the individual animal.

This e-petition remains open to signatures and will be considered for debate by the Backbench Business Committee should it pass the 100 000 signature threshold.