Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of the use of antibiotics in animals was accounted for by mass medication in the last six years.

Data collected on antibiotics sold for use in animals does not show what an antibiotic was used for, or in how many animals it was administered.

Antibiotics for administration through medicated feeding stuffs and water, which are typically used to treat livestock groups of any size, have accounted for, on average, 88% of total sales of veterinary antibiotics for the last six years.

Regardless of administration route, antibiotics can only be prescribed by a veterinary surgeon following a clinical diagnosis.