HUMANE TREATMENT OF ANIMALS USED IN RESEARCH 83 
in all cleans and directors of laboratories, and I would like to give some examples 
from our experience typifying the situation as it exists today — without manda- 
tory legislation for the protection of experimental animals— showing why in so 
many instances voluntary control by these men has not prevented, and will not 
prevent, cruelty in laboratories. 
The first problem is unreliability. Let me give you examples from some well- 
known institutions. (Names of institutions and individuals will be provided on 
request if the chairman desires them. ) 
(1) In more than one instance, doctors in charge of 100 or more laboratory 
dogs stated that they were exercised regularly in runways which they showed 
us. Checkups revealed that the runways were not used. 
(2) The director of a large medical school about whose treatment of animals 
we have been complaining for 6 years, wrote to an individual who requested per- 
mission to visit the animals, “I can assure that we extend ourselves to the 
utmost to make sure that animals used for research in our medical center are 
given the very best and most humane care. We are proud that we have met the 
strict requirements of the ASPCA as well as those of the Animal Welfare In- 
stitute. Beyond the two organizations mentioned above, we do not encourage 
visitation to our animal quarters since we are careful to protect them from 
exposure to unaccustomed people or possible contamination. Your interest in 
our animals, however, is deeply appreciated.” To give you some idea of this 
particular doctor’s idea of extending himself to the utmost, let me read you the 
notes we published on a visit to his laboratory (information report, vol. 11, No. 
1) : “All dogs caged, never released for exercise. Three emaciated dogs curled 
up and uninterested even though most of the dogs were barking furiously. A 
gray poodle with incredibly matted fur, with food and filth stuck in it. 
said he had trimmed it once, so it must have been there for a long time. The 
dog did not respond in any way but stood mute and motionless in its cage. A 
black and tan mongrel was too tall to hold its head normally. When standing, 
the dog’s back was rubbing against the top of the cage. The university refused 
to build cages any bigger despite urgent requests to do so when the building was 
first constructed. Postoperative dog room : many were too sick to rise, some had 
had two operations. One heart surgical case was emaciated, had a tremor, and 
lacked one eye from which red flesh extruded. first explained dog’s con- 
dition as brain surgery, but later decided the dog had lost his eye and developed 
chorea before coming to . Apparently, this did not deter its use for heart 
surgery. The dog drank water almost continuously. No attendants in any of 
the dog rooms. Asked if dogs as sick as those we had seen can get up for hosing 
of cages said they could. He said none of the dogs we saw had been given 
any sedation * * *. Many rabbits, like some of the dogs, were in cages too 
small to stretch out in normal resting position. Two rabbits quite often were 
squeezed into one such small cage. Their noses were running in many instances 
and there were sounds of coughing. The room was very hot and ammonia 
prickled the observer’s nostrils. Rats were generally better housed though some 
were extremely overcrowded despite the presence of empty cages, and some had 
been blinded by radiation till their eyes actually disappeared. Mice had the most 
comfortable cages of all the animals.” 
Naturally we lodged a strong protest against the use of our good name to 
whitewash these conditions, and we received a letter admitting that our name 
had been used in error. When I requested permission a few weeks ago for a 
visiting British scientist and animal welfare worker to visit, I was referred to 
the public relations department and was told, “Send her to Cornell or some- 
where, but not here.” According to the “Summary Tables for the Total Extra- 
mural Program” of the Public Health Service grants and awards by the National 
Institutes of Health, this institution received more than $7 million otf the tax- 
payers’ money in 1961. For that amount of money, I think we can expect to 
have at least such obvious desiderate as a few pens to which dogs can be taken 
for exercise. 
To complete this group of instances, I would like to read the testimony pre- 
pared by Mrs. Frank Wilson who is unable to be present in Washington. 
“STATEMENT OF MRS. FRANK WILSON IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 1937 AND S. 3088 
“I would like to put on record my experience of visiting the animal quarters of 
a well-known New York City hospital in the summer of 1961. I went there as a 
representative of the Animal Welfare Institute, which has access to the animal 
quarters of the hospital under the terms of a legal agreement entered into by a 
lady who sold her home to the hospital. 
