Research Methods in Life Sciences Commons^™

Is Your Pet Safe From Laboratory Experimentation?

Close Up Reports

In the U.S., the path from public or private shelters to laboratories is treat too often by dogs and cats. In a few states, so-called "pound seizure" laws require shelters to turn over unclaimed or unwanted dogs and cats to researchers. In other states, shelters may voluntarily sell dogs and cats to "bunchers" who travel around a state or states, bunching animals together to resell to research facilities. Even in the handful of states that prohibit release of animals for research purposes, unscrupulous profit seekers can find animals and sell them for research across state lines.

Many scientists claim these …

A Message From Pano, William G. Conway

Zoos and Aquariums Collection

The memo attached was found in an unstamped envelope with no return address on the grounds of the Bronx Zoo. It appears to have been written by a chimpanzee on assignment from a clandestine organization in Africa.

Effects Of Psycho-Physiological Stress On Captive Dolphins, Nick Carter

Conservation Collection

Morgane (1978) has stated that:

Man sees all other creatures through the narrow focus of his own knowledge and sees the whole image in distortion. We patronize animals for their incompleteness and dependence and for their fate in having taken form so far below ourselves ... a great mistake, for animals should not and cannot, be measured by man. Many are gifted with many extensions of senses we have lost or never attained .... They live by voices we may never hear. Some may not be our accepted brethren, but also they are not our underlings.

If this "narrow focus …

Reporting Requirements Under The Animal Welfare Act: Their Inadequacies And The Public's Right To Know, Mark Solomon, Peter C. Lovenheim

Laws and Legislation Collection

We conclude from the analysis that the Reporting System, as presently administered, fails to achieve its primary statutory objective: it does not provide APHIS with information sufficient to demonstrate that researchers have used pain-relieving drugs "appropriately" and in accordance with "professionally acceptable standards." The chief reasons for this failing are (1) regulations and guidelines do not define "pain" or "distress," (2) regulations and guidelines do not adequately define "routine procedures," and (3) regulations and guidelines do not require meaningful explanations for the withholding of pain-relieving drugs in procedures acknowledged to cause pain.

Some Thoughts On The Laboratory Cage Design Process, Margaret E. Wallace

Laboratory Experiments Collection

A block to progress in the design of cages and other restricted environments for animals has been the notion that animal and human needs are necessarily in conflict. The process of design should list the established and suspected animal needs separately from a list of human needs- husbandry and experimental. Comparison of the two lists will often show up more compatible needs than expected, and design features can be worked out to fulfill them. Adjustments may then be made where needs are less compatible until "sufficient" compatibility is achieved. An innovative design for a mouse cage is described, to show …

The Silver Spring 17, Andrew N. Rowan

Laboratory Experiments Collection

On November 23, 1981, in a Maryland District Court, Dr. Edward Taub was found guilty under a Maryland state anti-cruelty statute of not providing adequate veterinary care for 6 of the 17 monkeys confiscated from his laboratory 2 months earlier. The case has received extensive press coverage and has also caused widespread alarm in the scientific community. According to Science (274:121, 1981 ), "scientists throughout the country have been shocked by the Taub case, initially perceiving it as a bid by antivivisectionists to procure a court ruling against animal experimentation." Taub himself has fostered this impression and has drawn a …

Deep Woodchip Litter: Hygiene, Feeding, And Behavioral Enhancement In Eight Primate Species, Arnold S. Chamove, James R. Anderson, Susan C. Morgan-Jones, Susan P. Jones

Ethology Collection

Sixty-seven animals from eight primate species were used to assess improved husbandry techniques. The presence of woodchips as a direct-contact litter decreased inactivity and fighting, and increased time spent on the ground. Placing food in the deep litter led to further behavioral improvement. The use of frozen foods improved food distribution and reduced fighting in most situations, especially when it was buried in the litter. With time, the litter became increasingly inhibitory to bacteria. The results suggest that inexpensive ways of increasing environmental complexity are effective in improving housing for primates.

History Of The Humane Movement And Prospects For The 80s, Robert A. Brown

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

It was in 1836 that the oldest humane society currently in existence, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, was founded in London. Many others were formed during the nineteenth century, such as the organization I now represent, which was founded in Chicago in 1899. Above all else, there is one distinguishing feature of this period for me: the movement had what is known in Chicago as clout. In marked contrast to the years following the First World War, humane societies enjoyed support from individuals of wealth, influence, and brains. That was a high point for the …

Scientific Issues And Regulation Of Primate Use, Andrew N. Rowan

Experimentation Collection

Some of the patterns of use of nonhuman primates in the USA and Europe are outlined and a few specific examples of inappropriate and/or unnecessary use are described. The primate research resources program in the USA is examined and some suggestions as to how the program could be made more responsive to humane and conservation concerns are presented.

Breeding And Use Of Nonhuman Primates In The Usa, Joe R. Held

Experimentation Collection

Several species of nonhuman primates, each possessing specific characteristics of particular value, are used by the United States biomedical community in a wide variety of health-related activities. These animals are man's closest relatives and are indispensable in the effort to understand and control human health problems.

The destruction of primate habitats and embargoes on export of primates from source countries have decreased the supply of these animals. Continuation of many ongoing and new activities contributing to the improvement of human health is threatened by inadequate and erratic supply of these resources. In the U.S., a program has been developed to …

The Case For Revising Our Laws On Animal Experimentation, David L. Markell

Experimentation Collection

The current laws regarding experimentation upon animals should be drastically revised. These laws permit virtually unrestricted experimentation on animals without regard to the benefits to be obtained from such experimentation, and without regard to the consequences of such experimentation upon the subject animal. Legislation constituting a two-step jump from the current laws is needed: laws sanctioning and requiring animal experimentation should be repealed; and laws significantly restricting acceptable experimentation should be enacted. The principle underlying this proposal for change is straightforward: Nonhuman animals, like human animals, have interests in the integrity of their bodies which deserve legal protection. Only by …

Ethical Concerns In Primate Use And Husbandry, Ardith A. Eudey

Experimentation Collection

Subsequent to World War II, a dramatic increase occurred in the utilization of nonhuman primates in biomedical and psychological research and industry. At the same time field studies on the ecological and social behavior of natural populations of primates also increased, making possible more realistic assessments of both the behavioral potentiality of primate populations and their conservation status. In spite of the growing body of information indicating the endangered or threatened status of most species, many laboratory workers and planning agencies continue to regard primates as renewable resources, even seeking to bypass protective legislation in habitat countries to obtain them. …

Lab Animal Housing: Numbers Or Common Sense?, Andrew N. Rowan

Laboratory Experiments Collection

No abstract provided.

Biomedical Research And Animal Welfare: Traditional Viewpoints And Future Directions, Franklin M. Loew

Experimentation Collection

It has been twenty years since C.P. Snow first presented the concept of "The Two Cultures"; referring to the "culture" of scientists and the "culture" of literary intellectuals (mainly writers), Snow said (1969):

... constantly I felt I was moving among two groups- comparable in intelligence, identical in race, not grossly different in social origin, earning about the same incomes, who had almost ceased to communicate at all, who in intellectual, moral and psychological climate had so little in common ...

In some ways, "Two Cultures" goes far to characterize the current state of affairs surrounding those whose scientific endeavors …

Regulation Of Biomedical Research, Andrew N. Rowan

Experimentation Collection

The idea of abolishing or simplifying government regulations has a large following in Washington at the moment. As Reagan and his minions start to prune the growth of the past twenty years, we must hope that they are able to distinguish between the healthy growth which provides needed support and the unnecessary growth which strangles necessary initiatives. However, there is one area where we need more regulation rather than less, namely, biomedical research. In calling for more regulation in biomedical research, I do not mean the imposition of outside controls by allegedly ignorant and insensitive bureaucrats (although I think some …

Sewer Science & Pound Seizure, Kenneth P. Stoller

Laboratory Experiments Collection

Significant decisions are being made in the City and County of Los Angeles over a seemingly insignificant issue- pound seizure. Outwardly, the issue is a triflepotentially inconvenienced animal research professionals vs. irate citizens who don't want lost pets sold for research. However, on another level, this conflict has imp I ications that reach to the very depths of irrationality- for far from fighting to promote the practice of pound seizure, scientists should be fighting to end it.

History Of Animal Experimentation Control In The U.K., Judith E. Hampson

Laws and Legislation Collection

The legislative control of the use of animals in experiments in the UK lies in the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1876. Animal Welfare groups and individuals in Britain have pressed for reform of this law almost since its inception 105 years ago, and the British government has recently agreed to bring this legislation up to date. Any new or amended legislation could have far-reaching implications, both for laboratory animal welfare and upon the scientific community and is therefore of considerable importance both in this country and overseas. No proper appreciation of the problem would be possible without reference to …

Beyond Conspecifics: Is Brer Rabbit Our Brother?, Gordon Burghardt, Harold Herzog

Experimentation Collection

Today, on many fronts, there is renewed interest in our relationship with nonhuman animals. Many factors have contributed to this concern. Environmental and ecological awareness has drawn public attention to the near extermination of many species and the detrimental effects of pollution, pesticides, and habitat destruction. The inefficiency of transmuting vegetable protein to meat has added to the traditional moral arguments of vegetarians. The widespread questioning of government support for basic research has been intertwined with suspicions about the use and worth of any studies on animals, even those purporting to help understand human medical and behavioral problems. New evidence …

Ethology And Laboratory Animal Welfare, James A. Cohen

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

No abstract provided.

Live Animals In Car Crash Studies, Nancy Heneson

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

No abstract provided.

Definition Of The Concept Of ''Humane Treatment" In Relation To Food And Laboratory Animals, Bernard E. Rollin

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

The very title of this talk makes a suggestion which must be forestalled, namely the idea that laboratory and food animals enjoy some exceptional moral status by virtue of the fact that we use them. In fact, it is extremely difficult to find any morally relevant grounds for distinguishing between food and laboratory animals and other animals and, far more dramatically, between animals and humans. The same conditions which require that we apply moral categories to humans rationally require that we apply them to animals as well. While it is obviously pragmatically impossible in our current sociocultural setting to expect …

Nsmr: Its Image, Direction And Future, J. Russell Lindsey

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

The following speech was presented by Dr. Lindsey, Chairman of the University of Alabama Department of Comparative Medicine, at the Annual Board Meeting of the National Society for Medical Research (NSMR), Chicago, Illinois, November 10, 1979.

Laboratory Animals And Alternatives In The 80'S, Andrew N. Rowan

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

No abstract provided.

Animals Are Suffering: Hsus Seeks To End Rabbit Blinding Tests

Close Up Reports

The research industry has long held that the use of animals is the only "reliable" way we have of determining the safety of a cosmetic, drug, or household product. Over the years this belief has served to support scientists as they subjected animals to many tests. The American public has seen little of the massive animal suffering that has taken place in the research labs.

Today, a new debate is taking place. People from all walks of life are asking if all the suffering and death is worth it. Many research scientists have joined the ranks of those who are …

The Public Governance Of Science And Research Animal Welfare, T. E. Malone

International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems

The following is excerpted from a speech given by Dr. Thomas E. Malone, Deputy Director of the National Institutes of Health, at the 26th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Laboratory Animal Scientists (AALAS), Anaheim, California, October 5, 1977.

Live Animals In Car Crash Studies, Nancy Heneson

Experimentation Collection

The scientific rationale for using live animals in car crash studies proceeds from the argument that comparative biomedical and biomechanical data are needed to develop an instrumented dummy, or anthropomorphic test device, which will provide reliable, reproducible information for designing safe cars. The animal studies are thus not really ends in themselves, i.e., they do not supply data which can be readily applied to real situations. Instead, they contribute to a pool of information which is supposed to lead to the perfecting of an experimental subject (the instrumented dummy) which will eventually render the further use of Iive animals unnecessary.

Nsmr: Its Image, Direction And Future, J. Russell Lindsey

Experimentation Collection

The point I wish to emphasize is that NSMR, like all of its predecessors representing the scientific community, has consistently maintained a defensive posture while claiming that a// practices of animal use and care within the biomedical community have been "lily white." In my judgment, this has been a major tactical error because abuses of freedoms to use animals in research too frequently have been and continue to be common knowledge (e.g., Science, Editorial, 1976). NSMR's complete unwillingness to face up to these realities and torespond positively to the public's legitimate concerns has led to the inevitable loss of credibility …

Ethology And Laboratory Animal Welfare, James A. Cohen

Laboratory Experiments Collection

At its annual conference, held this June at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, the Animal Behavior Society (ABS) passed a resolution opposing HR 4805, a bill which would establish a National Center for Alternative Research to develop and coordinate alternative methods of research and testing which do not involve the use of live animals. The ABS, which represents some 1750 North American animal behavior researchers, took issue with the bill on the grounds that: a) it discourages replication of previously-obtained results, b) there are currently no satisfactory substitutes for live animals in behavioral research, c) it would complicate and …

Pain-Infliction In Animal Research, Dorothy Tennov

Experimentation Collection

A summary of research outlining the main sources of pain and stress to animals in laboratories provides the background for the results of a survey conducted by the author on how students feel about experimentation involving animals. The psychological aspects of student reaction to animal experimentation are examined. The conclusion outlines specific recommendations on ways to minimize pain and discomfort of laboratory animals.

Animals In Education: The Use Of Animals In High School Biology Classes And Science Fairs, Heather Mcgiffin, Nancie Brownley

ANIMALS IN EDUCATION is the proceedings of the conference, "The Use of Animals in High School Biology Classes and Science Fairs," held September 27-28, 1979 in Washington, D.C. which was sponsored by The Institute for the Study of Animal Problems, 2100 L Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. in connection with The Myrin Institute for Adult Education, 521 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10021.