November 2003

"The minimum cage sizes for both marmosets and macaques detailed in the Home Office guidance (1989), and the European standards, are inadequate - particularly in respect of vertical dimensions of cages - and do not reflect current best practices."

October  2003

"The investigator, above all, wants to pursue his or her research activities, be they of basic science or clinical nature. The academic and intellectual freedom to pursue these activities is crucial to the livelihood of any investigator."

September  2003

"Far from standardizing laboratory animals, barren environments may
induce severe brain abnormalities. These abnormalities call the
validity of a wide range of experiments into question."

August  2003

The "training of non-human primates to handling and experimental procedure
will reduce the variance and increase the significance level of observed
changes, allows the measurement of normal physiological parameters and
finally reduces the number of animals used in an experiment"

July  2003

June  2003

May 2003

April 2003

March 2003

”We conclude that ordinary animal husbandry procedures such as moving rats to a clean cage can induce transient, but significant, cardiovascular and behavioral changes. Investigators and animal care staff should recognize that such routine procedures could confound experiments conducted shortly thereafter.“ Duke JL, Zammit TG, Lawson DM 2001. Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science 40(1), 17-20     "Adult female rhesus macaques responded with a significant increase in heart rate to being placed in transfer boxes while their dirty cages were replaced with clean ones. "The mean heart rate remained elevated for two hours after completion of the procedure.... These observations are important to note if one is to avoid confounding the physiological and behavioral effects of experimental manipulations with those induced by routine husbandry." Line SW, Morgan KN, Markowitz H, Strong S 1989. Laboratory Primate Newsletter 28(2), 9-12

February 2003

"The veterinarian, hired as he is by the institution and not by the animals, often will find himself in a delicate position. ... The veterinarian must have the courage – and it will require courage – to insist on standards that are absolute, and not relative to the pressures from within any institution." Anchel, M. (1976). Beyond "adequate veterinary care." Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 168, 513-517.

January 2003

December 2002

"What we basically have done to date is to provide lighting suitable to our needs and assumed it was all right for the animal." Bellhorn, R. W. (1980). Lighting in the animal environment. Laboratory Animal Science, 30, 440-450.                                                              "The intensity of light in animal cages is likely to be the most variable environmental factor in the average animal room." Clough, G. (1982). Environmental effects on animals used   in biomedical research. Biological Reviews, 57, 487-523.

November 2002

"The requirements for 'carefully controlled conditions' counteracts its fundamental purpose if it results in housing conditions where the animals have difficulties in adapting." Meyerson, B. J. (1986). Ethology in animal quarters.  Acta Physiologica Scandinavica, 554 (Supplement), 24-31.

October 2002

"Refinement is the attempt to enhance animal welfare and control extraneous variables that may increase research data variability." Reinhardt V, Reinhardt A 2000. Database on Refinement    of Housing and Handling Conditions and Environmental    Enrichment for Laboratory Animals

September 2002

"Most investigators think only briefly about the care and handling of their animals and clearly have not made it an important consideration in their work." Traystman RJ 1987. ACUC, who needs it? The investigator's viewpoint.  Laboratory Animal Science 37 (Special issue), 108-110                                "That many scientists lack detailed information about their animals, especially their behavior, is distressing and reflects a serious disregard for the single most important element of their research. ... The animal is the key to the entire experiment." Reese EP 1991. The role of husbandry in promoting the welfare of laboratory animals. In Animals in Biomedical Research Hendriksen CFM, Koeter HBWM (eds), 155-192. Elsevier, Amsterdam, Netherlands

August 2002

"The overriding and deepest concern of the public regarding research on laboratory animals is the total subjection of these animals to the will and whims of their masters, in conditions which at best for humans are generally reserved as punishment for those found guilty of crimes against society and, at worst, if inflicted on humans, would be described as cruel and unusual punishment, torture, and violation of human rights; and all of this with no prospect of release." Clark, J. 1987. Public concerns for animal in research.   Laboratory Animal Science, 37 (Special Issue), 120-121.

July 2002

"At present, it is too easy to justify animal experimentation in general, and excessive numbers of animals are often used, because of bad experimental design and poor data analysis." Balls M 1995. The use of non-human primates as laboratory      animals in Europe: Moving toward the zero option. Alternatives to Laboratory Animals (ATLA) 23, 284-286

June 2002

"The bond between people and animals in the laboratory, if understood and used consistently, can minimize certain variables related to stress in the animals." American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 2001. Cost of Caring: Recognizing Human Emotions in the Care    of Laboratory Animals. AALAS, Memphis

May 2002

"Obviously, then some mechanism needs to be developed that will exclude invasive research that produces no benefit, but simply advances trivial knowledge or careers." Rollin BE 1995. Laws relevant to animal research in the United States. In Laboratory Animals - An Introduction for Experimenters, Second Edition Tuffery AA (ed),              67-86. John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY

April 2002

"The real question that faces us today is, do we need more laws, or do we need to enforce the existing regulations honestly and with vigor? In my opinion, an attempt at the latter should be our first step, for I believe that with conscientious effort the existing statutes will provide the protection the overwhelming majority of people want." Silberman MS 1988. Editorial - Animal welfare, animal right: The past, the  present, and the 21st century. Journal of Zoo Animal Medicine 19, 161-167

March 2002

"One of the major concerns of the public today is the 'veil of secrecy' that surrounds much of the research and testing with laboratory animals." Clark, J. (1987). Public concerns for animal in research. Laboratory Animal Science, 37 (Special Issue), 120-121.

February 2002

"Good husbandry minimizes variations that can modify an animal's response to experimentation." National Research Council 1985. Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, 6th Edition. National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

January 2002

"Animal research personnel should be encouraged to join in the pursuit of progress with the recognition that, in addition to knowledge and skills, primary attributes must be feelings of compassion and sensitivity toward animals. Because animals cannot speak for themselves, it is up to empathetic and caring personnel to see that they are treated humanely and with respect." Halpern-Lewis JG 1996. Understanding the emotional experiences of animal research personnel. Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science 35(6), 58-60

December 2001

"Human interaction with monkeys and apes is essential for the well-being of the animal, data validity, and ease of handling." The "social bond" with the animal "conveys to the animal a quiet sense of assurance on which coping strategies can be developed for dealing with other stressful aspects of the laboratory." Wolfle TL 1987. Control of stress using non-drug approaches. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 191, 1219-1221

November 2001

"Stressed animals do not make good research subjects." American Medical Association 1992. Use of Animals in Biomedical Research – The Challenge and Response – An American Medical Association White Paper. AMA. Group on Science and Technology, Chicago

October 2001

"Abstract cleverness of mind only separates the thinker from the world of reality, and that world is in a desperate condition now because of too many who think too much and care too little." – Benjamin Hoff 1982 The Tao of Pooh, Penguin Books, New York

September 2001

"Implementing enriched housing programs and policies assists the scientific community in meeting its ethical responsibilities toward the animals used in research." Benn DM 1995. Innovations in research animal care. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 205, 465-468

August 2001

"We are morally responsible for any living thing that we cause to be dependent upon us, including animals used in research, teaching and testing." Olfert ED, Cross BM, McWilliam AA. 1993. Guide to the Care and Use of Experimental Animals, Volume 1, 2nd Edition. Canadian Council on Animal Care, Ottawa

July 2001

"All who care for or use animals in research, teaching, or testing must assume responsibility for their well-being." National Research Council, 1996. Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals

June 2001

"What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning." Heisenberg W 1958 Physics and Philosophy. Harper Torchbooks, New York

May 2001

"Institutions should seriously consider how to provide their AV with adequate job security (e.g., through tenure, a modified tenure arrangement, or contracts), which will in turn fortify the AVs role on the IACUC. This is not to imply that job security in itself will block retribution.“ Silverman J 2000. The attending veterinarian as an ally and leader of the IACUC. Lab Animal 29(10), 26-27

April 2001

"Unless the contrary is established, investigators should consider that procedures that cause pain or distress in human beings may cause pain or distress in other animals." Public Health Service (PHS) 1996 U.S. Government Principles for the Utiliza-   tion and Care of Vertebrate Animals Used in Testing, Research, and Training.

March 2001

Feb. 2001

What's New

Call for Refinement Award Proposals

The Animal Welfare Institute plans to offer a minimum of 6 Refinement Awards, each for up to $8,000. Studies aimed at the refinement of the housing and handling conditions of animals assigned to research will be considered for funding. Preference will be given to studies based in North America, but excellent projects conducted in other countries will not be excluded.   

Photo by Staff of Biomedical Research Unit, Birmingham University

Applications should be in the form of a 4-page letter: (a) clearly elaborating how the study is likely to enhance animal welfare; (b) outlining in detail the methodology that will be applied to achieve this objective; (c) listing briefly the expected expenses and d) assuring that the applicant will personally both collect and analyze all data of the proposed study.

Proposals will not be funded if the data collection procedure inflicts avoidable distress, and/or the study implies the killing of animals during or after data collection.

Applications should be sent as Microsoft Word Document attachments to viktor@snowcrest.net by November 15, 2007.  Notification letters will be mailed to all applicants by February 15, 2008. Awardees will receive 80% of the funds at the beginning of their study and the remaining 20% when they have submitted a satisfactory final report by November 15, 2008. The report has to be written in an appropriate fashion for possible publication in the AWI Quarterly.  Awardees are encouraged to also submit a manuscript to a scientific journal.

Animal Welfare Institute
Washington, D.C.

New Resource on the 3Rs

The National Center for the  Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research[NC3Rs] founded in 2004 established a comprehensive, well organized, user-friendly Information Portal on the 3Rs
"The Information Portal .. contains annotated links to online databases, websites, journal articles, legislation and other publications. These resources provide information to help you apply the 3Rs and ensure the best possible standards in animal welfare. There are also links for further information on funding schemes for 3Rs research."

Bill Russell

William Moy Statten Russell died July 27, 2006 at the age of 81 years.

            Bill introduced with his colleague Rex L. Burch the concept of the 3Rs in their ground-breaking book The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique which was published in 1959. The guidelines of this book found their way into the biomedical research establishment only very gradually, but they are nowadays recognized not only as “humane” but also as essential ingredients of sound scientific methodology.

            Bill was extremely sharp minded and broad minded and never failed to see the detail in interdependency with the whole. His genuine sense of compassion, his dry humor, his amazing enthusiasm, and his tireless readiness to share his insights and discuss new avenues of scientific endeavor made Bill not only a most appreciated colleague but also a dear friend who cannot be forgotten. Bill will remain a guiding inspiration for many students, researchers and scientists who regard animals in research laboratories as sentient beings who deserve to be treated with utmost care so that research data collected from them can be scientifically valid.

The overlooked 3rd R: Refinement [power point file] (presentation at the 45th Annual Canadian Association for Laboratory Animal Sciences Symposium, Montreal, May 2006 with references of articles and photos referred to in the text)

Random Source Dog and Cat Dealers

Beware of these 15 remaining Random Source Class B dealers who are selling dogs and/or cats to laboratories for experimentation.

http://www.awionline.org/Lab_animals/biblio/rabrodent.html

Each proposal must be approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee, and the proposal itself must be co-signed by the Head of Animal Services at the Institution. Applications should be sent via e-mail to rbrady@jhsph.edu. Any parts of the application that cannot be sent by e-mail must be sent in multiples of 10 copies each to:

Each successful applicant must send a final report of the completed study to rbrady@jhsph.edu (Ruth Brady) and viktorawi@siskiyou.net (Viktor Reinhardt) by November 1, 2005. These reports will be posted on such web sites as Altweb (http://altweb.jhsph.edu), the Animal Welfare Institute (http://www.awionline.org), the Animal Welfare Information Center (http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic), and other sites, as appropriate. It is hoped that successful applicants also will submit a manuscript of their project and its outcome to a professional journal.

For winners of the 2004 Animal Welfare Enhancement Awards, please see http://caat.jhsph.edu/programs/AWE/2004/recipients.htm

Steve Schapiro of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Bastrop received the 2004-AWI Refinement Award to assess Immunological Variables in Chimpanzee Blood Samples Obtained by Different Techniques.

Random Source Dog Dealer under Federal Investigation

 C. C. Baird of Martin Creek Kennels in Willford, Arkansas, one of the largest Class B dealers, had approximately 125 dogs seized from his premises and a search warrant was executed by federal authorities (USDA and the US Postal Inspectors) on August 26, 2003. According to the US Department of Justice, “the search was in connection with an ongoing investigation of alleged violations of the Animal Welfare Act and other federal criminal statutes.”

            On March 10, 2004, USDA filed a complaint against dog dealer C. C. Baird and his family alleging hundreds of Animal Welfare Act violations: “The violations alleged in this complaint are of the utmost seriousness, and include severe mistreatment and neglect of a multitude of animals in respondents’ custody, falsification of health certificates for dogs and cats that respondents sold to research facilities, multitudinous record-keeping deficiencies and instances of noncompliance with the barest standards of care, husbandry and housing for dogs and cats.”  USDA has suspended Baird’s license to buy and sell animals.

2004 Animal Welfare Enhancement Awards granted

 The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and the Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) are pleased to announce the winners of the 2004 Animal Welfare Enhancement Awards.  The focus of these awards is to improve housing, handling and/or experimental situations for laboratory animals. 

Thanks to an anonymous donor, thirteen (13) awardees will receive $6,000 each for studies aimed at enhancing laboratory animal welfare.  The winning projects will explore such refinement issues as the use of conditioning or training techniques to reduce stress levels, environmental enrichment, effects of group housing, and noninvasive indicators of pain and distress.  A complete list of award recipients and their project titles is given below.  For brief summaries of the proposed projects and a description of the selection criteria, see  http://caat.jhsph.edu/programs/AWE/awards.htm

2004 Award Recipients

• Sylvie Cloutier, Washington State University
  "The Use of a Conditioning Technique to Reduce the Physiological and Behavioural Stress Associated with Repeated Intra-peritoneal Injections in Rats"

• Anita Conte, College of Staten Island/CUNY
  "Reduction of Captivity Stress in Chronically Housed Pigeons through an Enriched Environment Program"

• Kinta J. Diven, Johns Hopkins University
  "Use of Enrichment Materials (Ems) by Research Animals as an Indicator of Pain and Distress"

• Amy M. Dupuy, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
  "The Effects of Light Intensity on Fecal Cortisol and Stereotypic Behavior in Adult Male Macaca mulatta"

• Hamilton, Colorado State University
  "The Effects of Desensitization Training on Reducing Stress Levels in Research Dogs"

• Chandra A. Inglis, Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies
  "Effects of Enrichment Devices on Stress-Related Problems in Mouse Breeding"

• Wilma Lagerwerf, University of Western Ontario
  "A Simple Method for Intercage Mouse Environmental Enrichment Device Assessment"

• Kris Maloney, Procter & Gamble Company
  "Novel Caging Trial for Long Term Group Housing of Rats"

• Vicki Meyers-Wallen, Cornell University
  "Social Enrichment in a Breeding Colony"

• Margaret Strong, Johns Hopkins University
  "Improvement of the Breeding Performance of Wild-Derived Mice"

• Colette Wheler, University of Saskatchewan
  "Evaluation of Two Non-Contact Infrared Thermometers for Determining Changes in Body Temperature in Mice"

• Wendy O. Williams, Cornell University
  "Ultrasonic Sound Measurement as an Indicator of Pain and Distress in Laboratory Rodents"

• Stephanie Yue, University of Guelph
  "Development of Behavioral and Physiological Indices of the Welfare Status of Captive Fishes to Improve the Rearing Environment, Management and Handling"

PROPOSAL FOR ANIMAL WELFARE ENHANCEMENT AWARDS

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and the
Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT)

An anonymous donor has provided funds to award up to twelve (12) applicants with funds for proposals intended to improve laboratory animal welfare.  The focus of these awards is to improve housing, handling and/or experimental situations for laboratory animals.  This program is not species limited. Studies may, for example, examine

•         how physiological and behavioral stress responses to common husbandry (e.g., capture) and traditional treatment procedures (e.g., gavage, injection, blood collection) can be reduced or eliminated (e.g., by training the subjects to cooperate rather than resist);

•         whether animals caged at different tier levels show different physiological and behavioral stress responses when being approached by personnel, and how these responses can be minimized or avoided;

•         whether the presence of a compatible companion buffers physiological and behavioral stress responses to experimental situations (e.g., enforced restraint).

Any studies to be undertaken must be non-invasive, with the possible exception of obtaining blood for biochemical measurements and if possible using animals who have been trained to cooperative during venipuncture.  Objective measures might include behavior, coat appearance, body weight, analysis of feces, urine, or blood as described above.

Each award will be for $6,000.  In the case of successful completion of the application, some individuals may be invited to present their papers at a national symposium.  Additional funds will be provided for travel for these meetings. 

This award is limited to North American applications.  The proposal itself should be in the form of a letter clearly stating the objectives of the study and the anticipated outcomes.  It should provide sufficient detail so that reviewers can understand what is being proposed, how it will be achieved, and how the data will be evaluated.

Each proposal must be approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee, and the proposal itself  must be co-signed by the Head of Animal Services at the Institution.  Applications should be sent via e-mail to rbrady@jhsph.edu  Any parts of the application that cannot be sent by e-mail must be sent in multiples of 10 copies each to

Alan M. Goldberg, Ph.D.
The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health
111 Marketplace, Suite 840
Baltimore, MD 21202-6709

Deadlines and Review:  The deadline for submission of these applications is December 10, 2003 and they will be reviewed by an international group of reviewers and then the AWI and CAAT will make the final decisions on those applications to be funded.  Successful applicants will be funded by February 28^th 2004.

It is hoped that successful applicants will be able to submit a manuscript of their project and its outcome to an appropriate journal. Final reports provided by the applicant will be posted on websites such as the Animal Welfare Information Center web site, the Altweb site, the Animal Welfare Institue web site and other places as appropriate. 

USDA’s Failure to Protect Primates Leads to Lawsuit
ALDF, AWI File Suit to End 17-Year Delay on Standards Mandated by Congress

The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) and the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) have filed suit in U.S. District Court, challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s failure to fulfill its obligation under the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA) to ensure the humane treatment of primates in captivity. In 1985, Congress amended the AWA to require that standards be established to promote the psychological well-being of nonhuman primates in zoos, laboratories and other facilities. Though regulations aimed at fulfilling that obligation were finally issued in 1991, USDA itself determined seven years ago that the standards are inadequate and that its own inspectors did not know how to judge compliance. Yet despite years of study and review — including issuing a 108-page scientific report — USDA still has failed to act to correct this problem.  Read Complete Press Release

NIH Declines to Fund a Study on the Regulation of Birds, Mice, and Rats in Research

“It is well known that the 2002 Farm Bill, enacted in April, containedSenator Jesse Helms' controversial amendment to permanently deny birds, rats and mice legal protection under the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA). Less well-known was a second Helms' amendment directing the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to conduct a study of the implications of regulating these species under the AWA. However, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), one of the agencies responsible for funding the study, has decided not to comply with this amendment. In a September 13th letter to the NAS's Institute for Laboratory Animal Research (ILAR), Elias Zerhouni, director of the HHS's National Institutes of Health, stated that federal funding for the study was "imprudent" in light of the fact that coverage of these animals has been prohibited by law.
The HSUS is part of a working group that fought for the regulation of birds, mice, and rats under the AWA. "We believe the ILAR study would have shown that the logistics of regulating these species are manageable for both the USDA and the research community, and that finding would have justified revisiting the issue of regulatory coverage of birds, mice, and rats," stated Martin Stephens, HSUS' vice president for animal research issues.”

                                                                          The HSUS’s Animal Research News & Analysis, January 6, 2003

New Website for the Reporting of Lab Animal Welfare Concerns

Labanimalissues.org was created to serve as a secure and confidential source for the reporting of any specific concerns about the well-being of animals used for experimentation, testing and/or teaching. Labanimalissues.org is open to all persons wishing to notify us about any laboratory animal welfare problem.

Our objective is to assist you in helping laboratory animals who are suffering unnecessarily or are simply in need of better treatment. Your report can be anonymous, and our website is certified to ensure the highest level of privacy, confidentiality and security. We will follow-up on each report by taking whatever action we can to improve the situation for the laboratory animals involved.

The labanimalissues.org website is maintained by the Animal Welfare Institute. The institute is devoted to reducing the sum total of pain and fear inflicted on animals by humans. We seek humane treatment of animals used for experimentation and the development and use of alternatives (refinement, reduction and replacement). The Institute supports strong enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act by the US Department of Agriculture and inclusion of birds, mice and rats under the Act.
Thank you,
Cathy Liss
President
Animal Welfare Institute
cathy@awionline.org

Back to Lab Animals Page

Christine Stevens Dies

Christine Stevens, 84, a conservationist and animal rights activist who used her position as a leading figure in Washington society to lobby for legislation on many animal protection measures, died Oct. 10 at George Washington University Hospital. She had metabolic encephalopathy, which affects the nervous system, complicated by shingles.

Mrs. Stevens, a Washington resident, founded the Animal Welfare Institute, a nonprofit organization that publishes books and newsletters about the humane treatment of animals. She also started the Society for Animal Protective Legislation, the lobbying arm of her institute. She founded both groups in the 1950s and served as president of the Animal Welfare Institute until her death. Membership is now 20,000.

She played a key role in the passage of more than a dozen congressional acts, including the Humane Slaughter Act of 1958 and the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act of 1966, which mandates the licensing of animal dealers to prevent pet theft and sale to research centers.

Over the years, she became known for fighting what she considered the routine violations of whale hunters.

She was the wife of former Kennedy Center chairman Roger L. Stevens, and she hosted innumerable parties at which she gently lobbied politicians about animal welfare. She also addressed myriad women's groups and smaller gatherings over the years.

A reporter for the Christian Science Monitor, noting her almost-ethereal grace, beauty and bearing, once dubbed Mrs. Stevens the "duchess of the defenseless."

She had a vivid way with words about animal slaughter. It was dangerous to get her started on hogs.

"Nobody should really touch a ham sandwich until they change the system," she told the Christian Science Monitor. "You see, the pregnant sows are put into barred [pens] where they can't move. They cannot turn around, it's so tight, and there are bars in front of them, and they become really frenzied, so they grab hold of the bars and gnash their teeth, back and forth. We have films of this. There's no question it's a form of insanity. And they stay there for months."

Christine Gesell Stevens was born in St. Louis and grew up in Ann Arbor, Mich. She attended the University of Michigan and several art schools.

She became interested in the natural world through her father, a Michigan physiology professor, and spent many of her early years working with the Ann Arbor humane society. She was in New York when she started the Animal Welfare Institution in 1951 at her father's behest to improve conditions for lab animals.

She was sometimes critical of the often-confrontational tactics of other groups, preferring a more subtle style. She drew pen-and-ink holiday cards that she distributed with animal protection messages inside.

She also hosted theme parties, encouraging guests to literally put themselves in animals' shoes. People came gowned as otters, beavers, rhinoceroses, sea turtles and prairie dogs. One guest wore a kangaroo disguise and placed her toddler in the marsupial pouch. At one party, Mrs. Stevens appeared as a raccoon with a limp paw covered in black. She saw it as a striking protest against steel-jawed traps.

Her husband of 60 years died in 1998.

Survivors include a daughter, Christabel Gough of New York.
                                                                                                 By Adam Bernstein, Washington Post Staff Writer
                                                                                                 Friday, October 11, 2002; Page B06  

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Laboratory Animal Refinement & Enrichment Forum

The purpose of this electronic discussion forum is the exchange of experiences about ways to improve the conditions under which laboratory animals are housed and handled. The group is intended to serve the international animal care community in its attempt to promote animal welfare and improve scientific methodology by avoiding or eliminating husbandry-related stress situations. The forum is open to animal care personnel, animal technicians, students, attending veterinarians and
researchers who have or had first-hand experience in the care of animals kept in laboratories. If you want to join the group please send a message to viktorawi@siskiyou.net indicating your

• name,
• professional affiliation,
• professional experience(s) and
• professional interest(s).

Back to Lab Animals Page

Coulston lab shuttered; monkeys get new caretakers

The controversial Coulston Foundation, based in Alamogordo, N.M., has shut down, and its chimpanzees and monkeys will be relocated to a sanctuary in Florida where they will be permanently removed from research, said the Center for Capitve Chimpanzee Care in a press release today.
                                                                                                             New Mexico Business Weekly, September 16, 2002
http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2002/09/16/daily

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Under a $19 million contract awarded yesterday by the National Institutes of Health, Chimp Haven Inc., a nonprofit group based in Shreveport, will operate "a sanctuary system for all chimpanzees retired from federal biomedical facilities."
                                                                                                                                     Washington Post, October 1, 2002
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24658-2002Sep30.html

Back to Lab Animals Page

"House Passes Farm Bill of 2002

On 2 May, the US House of Representatives approved "The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002" (Farm Bill) by a vote of 280 to 141. President Bush, supporting the bill, urged the Senate to act on it quickly so that he may sign it into law. This latest version of the Farm Bill followed more that two years and many hearings in rural communities throughout the country, and more than 60 days of House and Senate conference to produce a bill balancing conservation, crops, nutrition, trade and rural development into the nation's comprehensive agricultural policy.

The farm Bill includes Sen. Jesse Helms' (R-NC) amendment excluding rats, mice, and birds from the definition of "animal" in the Animal Welfare Act. The Bill does not include Sen. Rick Santorum's (R-PA) "puppy protection" amendment that was aimed at improving the conditions and frequencies of breeding of female dogs and the socialization of their new born puppies in large commercial establishments. As a result, the Farm Bill is strongly supported by the research community and opposed by animal rights individuals and organizations."

Lab Animal 31(6), 17, 2002

Germany has Become the First European Nation to Vote to Guarantee Animal Rights in its Constitution.

Animal Welfare Coalition Urges Senate To Defeat Farm Bill

The great majority of laboratory animals in the United States is at risk of being degraded once again to non-animal commodities stripped of minimum legal protection of their well-being.

WASHINGTON, May 6 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Working Group to Preserve the Animal Welfare Act has strongly criticized the U.S. House of Representatives for passing the farm bill conference report on Thursday, May 2, because of a provision making the United States the only country with animal protection laws to exclude most animals used in research from the protection of the law.

The Conference Report to the Farm Bill includes an amendment offered by Sen. Helms that denies the Animal Welfare Act's (AWA) very basic requirements for humane care to 95 percent of research animals, i.e., birds, rats, and mice. Instead of using hearings and debates before making a significant and controversial change to the AWA, Sen. Helms brought the amendment before the Senate for a voice vote when very few Senators were present on the floor. That amendment is now part of the Farm Bill.

One of the reasons Congress broadened the AWA in 1970 was to stop the widespread abuse of animals used by researchers. The AWA requires researchers to provide humane care to research animals and consider non-animal alternatives. To ensure that these standards are met, USDA has the enforcement power to inspect research facilities; no other government agency has such authority.

The Helms amendment ignores the fact that a majority of scientists, many scientific organizations, and corporations involved in research and testing, such as Proctor & Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive, all support AWA coverage for birds, rats, and mice, recognizing that good animal care is essential to good science.

As a result of this undebated amendment, there is no legal duty for anyone who uses birds, rats, and mice in research to treat them humanely. Within the past few months, reports of abuse of these species in research facilities have proliferated, including several incidents at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. At this University, an undercover investigator documented repeated animal welfare violations involving these species. Problems have also surfaced at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Connecticut, and the University of California/San Francisco.

It is critical that birds, rats, and mice remain protected under the AWA. Otherwise, there will be no standards of care, no requirement to consider non-animal alternatives, and no enforcement mechanism to prevent these violations from occurring. There will, however, be grave consequences for the quality of science and for the credibility of the United States within the worldwide research community.

According to Christine Stevens, secretary of the Society for Animal Protective Legislation, "The National Association for Biomedical Research, an organization developed by the industry that profits from the sale of animals for use in laboratories, was the inspiration behind Sen. Helm's amendment. NABR doesn't want the USDA or the American public to see what is happening to these animals in the nation's laboratories. As the reports of abuses clearly indicate, they have a great deal to hide."

Nancy Blaney, coordinator of the Working Group to Preserve the Animal Welfare Act, a coalition of several major national animal protection organizations, stated, "We urge Congress not to approve the farm bill with the Helms Amendment. This unconscionable amendment is a disaster for 20 million research animals now permanently excluded from the very basic standards of humane care and treatment established under the AWA. This may very well damage the reputation of U.S. laboratories among researchers throughout the world."

The Working Group to Preserve the Animal Welfare Act includes the following groups: Alternatives Research & Development Foundation, American Anti-Vivisection Society, American Humane Association, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Doris Day Animal League, Humane Society of the United States, Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and the Society for Animal Protective Legislation.

http://www.usnewswire.com
-0-
/U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
05/06 14:24

Copyright 2002, U.S. Newswire

Contact: Nancy Blaney of the Working Group to Preserve the Animal Welfare Act, 703-521-1689 or
Chris Heyde of the Society for Animal Protective Legislation, 202-337-2334

In the United States less than 10% of the millions of animals used for research, teaching or testing purposes are protected by federal law prescribing minimum husbandry standards supposed to safeguard the animals' basic needs. Federal Regulations to the Animal Welfare act, despite explicit Congressional intent, exclude in their definition of "animals" the great majority of animals used in research, teaching or testing, namely rats, mice and birds (Code of Federal Regulations 1995. Title 9, Subchapter A - Animal Welfare, § 1.1). Rats, mice and birds, however, make up more than 90% of the animals used in research, teaching or testing. Their arbitrary exclusion in the legal definition of the term "animal" has no scientific and no ethical justification whatsoever. The United States Department of Agriculture [USDA] has, therefore, recently made earnest preparations to correct this situation and "grant" also rats, mice and birds the status of "animals" in the Animal Welfare Regulations.

USDA's plans to amend the regulations are currently being undermined by influential members of the US Congress. They are attempting to permanently block the granting of minimum legal welfare protection to rats, mice and birds. If their influence prevails, the great majority of laboratory animals in the United States will be degraded once again to non-animal commodities stripped of minimum legal protection of their well-being.

Entry: March 2, 2002

The Department of Agriculture is "considering several changes to the Animal Welfare
regulations to promote the humane treatment of live animals used in research, testing, and teaching and to improve the quality of information we report to Congress concerning animal pain and distress.
Specifically, we are considering adding a definition for the term "distress." Although this term is used throughout the Animal Welfare regulations, it is not defined. The addition of such a definition would clarify what we consider to be "distress" and could help assist research facilities to recognize and minimize distress in animals in accordance with the Animal Welfare Act (AWA).