HUMANE TREATMENT OF ANIMALS USED IN RESEARCH 41 
APPENDIX II 
ON PURCHASING DOGS AND CATS FROM DEALERS 
Dogs seized by the police under the authority of the Dogs Act of 1906 may not 
“ be given or sold for the purposes of vivisection.” They could conceivably be handed 
over for laboratory procedures outside the Act of 1876, for example, the preparation 
of distemper vaccine, but in practice this has never so far been done. This ban does 
not apply legally to cats, but in effect stray cats are equally inaccessible. There is conse- 
quently an ever present danger that cats and dogs offered by dealers may be stolen 
animals, and laboratory workers are advised to take every precaution against being 
incriminated in this way. The practice in many laboratories is to require the dealer to 
sign a statement to the effect that the animal which he is selling is his own property ; the 
following is a suggested form of undertaking for such a guarantee : — 
“ I certify that these are my own property and 
have been obtained by legal means. 
Signed ” 
If a further safeguard is thought necessary, the dealer may be asked to state the 
source of each animal. 
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