SOIHULL MP BACKS CALL FOR ANIMAL PROCEDURES DEBATE IN WESTMINSTER

5.30.09pm GMT Tue 13th Mar 2007

Solihull's MP, Lorely Burt has signed a parliamentary motion calling on the government to allow time for a full House of Commons debate on vivisection procedures.

Lorely Burt MP said:

"There have been over 90 million experiments on animals since 1979, and not one single debate in the House of Commons on the issue.

"We are an animal loving nation, and the House spent more than 250 hours debating hunting with dogs, but there has been no time allocated to discussing regulation and procedures for experiments involving animals.

"It is high time to raise the profile of this issue, and that is why I have signed up to the campaign for a full debate on the floor of the House to discuss the latest report of the Animal Procedures Committee."

"Our standards of welfare for animals are amongst the highest in the world, but I am still acutely uncomfortable about experiments that involve unnecessary distress or discomfort to animals, especially to primates.

"If MPs are prepared to allow animal experiments at all, it behoves us to use as few as possible and make sure these decisions follow a full and detailed debate on the procedures."