S4M-00885 John Mason (Scottish National Party): That the Parliament notes that the UK Government has devolved responsibility for animal testing to the Northern Ireland Assembly as part of the devolution process; notes that the number of experiments on animals carried out in Scotland increased by 17% from 494,584 in 2009 to 579,905 in 2010; welcomes the commitment by many of Scotland’s politicians to reduce the number of animal experiments carried out; calls on the UK Government to commit to a reduction in the number of animal experiments carried out and to replace these with alternatives that do not involve animals or involve the refinement of techniques to minimise their distress, and it believes that, if the UK Government is unwilling to do this, it should consider devolving responsibility for animal testing to the Scottish Parliament.