The background to the passage through the British Parliament of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 is reviewed, with particular emphasis on the significance of Animal Welfare Year (1976/77) and the role of the Houghton/Platt Memorandum and the alliance formed by the British Veterinary Association, the Committee for the Reform of Animal Experimentation and the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments. The importance of the new legislation is discussed, with particular reference to the restriction of pain, the reduction in the numbers of animals used, the development and use of humane alternative methods in research, and public accountability.
Anon. (1876). The Act to Amend the Law Relating to Cruelty to Animals, 39 & 40 Victoria, C. 77. London.
2.
Anon. (1976). Experiments on Living Animals: a paper submitted to the Home Secretary by a group of members of the Animal Welfare Parliamentary Group, members of the Animal Experimentation Advisory Committee of the RSPCA and the Chairman of Animal Welfare Year, 12 pp. Edinburgh: CRAE.
3.
Anon. (1978). Putting Animals into Politics, 20 pp. Edinburgh: General Election Coordinating Committee for Animal Protection.
4.
Anon. (1980). Report of the Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Laboratory Animals Protection Bill (Report 246). Vol. I: Minutes of Proceedings; Vol. II: Minutes of Evidence and Appendices.London: HMSO.
5.
Anon. (1980). Standing Committee C. In House of Commons Reports (14 May 1980). London: Hansard.
6.
Anon. (1979). Proposals for Change in the Legislation Governing the Uśe of Live Animals in Research, Experiments and other Laboratory Purposes: a paper submitted to the Home Secretary by the Committee for the Reform of Animal Experimentation relating to the Working of the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 and the need for new legislation.Edinburgh: CRAE.
7.
Anon. (1983). Animal Experimentation in the United Kingdom: Proposals Submitted to the Home Secretary Jointly by the BVA, CRAE and FRAME, 8 pp. Edinburgh: CRAE.
8.
Anon. (1983). Scientific Procedures on Living Animals, Cmnd 8883, 34 pp. London: HMSO.
9.
Anon. (1983). Animal Experimentation in the United Kingdom: Proposals Submitted to the Home Secretary Jointly by the BVA, CRAE and FRAME, 8 pp. Edinburgh: CRAE.
10.
GarnerR. (1993). Animals, Politics and Morality, 258 pp. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
11.
Anon. (1985). Scientific Procedures on Living Animals, Cmnd 9521, 25 pp. London: HMSO.
