GEORGE HOWARTH of the Home Office expressed surprise (Letters, 11 July) at the report on the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection's video which showed GM pigs kept in appalling laboratory conditions ("Video shows `human' gene pigs in lab", 4 July).
The "stringent controls" he writes of are often not adhered to behind closed doors. Channel 4 viewers were shocked at the Countryside Undercover - It's a Dog's Life programme a couple of years ago which included secret video footage. This showed puppies being hit hard by the young men working with them and some of the puppies bleeding from frequent injections.
RSPCA and other inspectors should make frequent surprise visits to these establishments. At present there are only a handful of government inspectors to cover tens of thousands of experiments. Timed and dated videos could be filmed along the lines of shop security videos for inspectors to view.
Unless such measures are taken, there will continue to be a difference between the rules and the actual practice behind closed doors.
C WELLS
Ruislip, Middlesex
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