UK

Puppies reared on farm for research have no right to outdoor runs, court rules

 The farm in East Yorkshire was granted permission last year to expand and breed thousands of dogs and other animals for experiments in research facilities. Picture by Cruelty Free International
 The farm in East Yorkshire was granted permission last year to expand and breed thousands of dogs and other animals for experiments in research facilities. Picture by Cruelty Free International  The farm in East Yorkshire was granted permission last year to expand and breed thousands of dogs and other animals for experiments in research facilities. Picture by Cruelty Free International

PUPPIES to be reared at a controversial beagle farm for scientific research have no right to outdoor runs, the High Court has ruled.

The farm at Grimston, East Yorkshire, was granted permission last year to expand and breed thousands of dogs and other animals for experiments in research facilities around the world.

A five-year, UK-wide campaign backed by MPs and many celebrities, including Ricky Gervais and Jilly Cooper, failed to block the plan.

The legal battle over outdoor runs in the fresh air, which may go to the Court of Appeal, is being seen by animal campaigners as the last opportunity to prevent dogs being bred at the site for what they condemn as "crude and cruel experiments".

The farm is owned by B&K Universal Ltd, part of a multi-national group breeding animals for laboratories.

Animal charity Cruelty Free International (CFI) made the last-ditch legal challenge against the dogs having to spend the whole of their days indoors.

CFI lawyers argued the Home Office unlawfully granted B&K an exemption from a European Directive on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes which requires dogs, where possible, to be provided with outside runs.

B&K argued the exemption was necessary because "high quality" animals were to be bred at the farm mainly for "safety assessment" experiments, and there was a need to protect them from infections and diseases - "pathogens in the environment that may be transmitted by wild rodents, insects and birds".

The Home Office considered the exemption request "acceptable" after hearing that exposure to infections would make the beagles unsuitable for their intended "scientific purpose".

B&K said alternative provision would be made indoors for the dogs' "exercise and socialisation" needs.

CFI applied for a judicial review, arguing errors of law had been made and irrelevant considerations taken into account when the Home Office granted the exemption.

But Mr Justice Collins, sitting in London, rejected all grounds of the application.

He ruled: "I do not regard the possibility of exemptions being allowed for dogs reared for toxicological studies as meaning there is any breach of the law."

The judge stressed he was ruling on legal issues, and whatever views he personally might have on the use of animals for experiments were "totally immaterial" to the case.

CFI expressed "dismay and grave disappointment" over the judgment and said it was considering asking the Court of Appeal to hear the case.

CFI chief executive Michelle Thew said: "The European Directive requirement for giving dogs used in highly unpleasant tests just a little protection has, with this judgment, been swept away."

Ms Thew said the legal challenge "may have been the last opportunity to prevent innumerable dogs from being bred to endure crude and cruel experiments".