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The Class B Dealer: Down And Out?, Bernard Unti
The Class B Dealer: Down And Out?, Bernard Unti
Bernard Unti, PhD
The supply of dogs and cats to laboratories by Class B animal dealers has been a contentious matter for decades. The subject engenders heated debate whenever it surfaces, most recently in September 2005 when Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI) proposed an amendment to the FY 2006 agriculture funding bill to withhold federal monies to research institutions that purchase animals from Class B dealers.
Laboratory Rodent Welfare: Thinking Outside The Cage, Jonathan P. Balcombe
Laboratory Rodent Welfare: Thinking Outside The Cage, Jonathan P. Balcombe
Jonathan Balcombe, PhD
This commentary presents the case against housing rats and mice in laboratory cages; the commentary bases its case on their sentience, natural history, and the varied detriments of laboratory conditions. The commentary gives 5 arguments to support this position: (a) rats and mice have a high degree of sentience and can suffer, (b) laboratory environments cause suffering, (c) rats and mice in the wild have discrete behavioral needs, (d) rats and mice bred for many generations in the laboratory retain these needs, and (e) these needs are not met in laboratory cages.