122 HUMANE TREATMENT OF ANIMALS USED IN RESEARCH 
They were successful recently in persuading the Congress to appropriate funds 
for the Food and Drug Administration to build proper quarters for its hundreds 
of test dogs. For years they have been confined without relief in tiny cages in a 
subbasement. 
A few years ago, thousands of letters — and not all written by members of hu- 
mane societies — flooded Congress demanding a law to provide humane methods 
of slaughter of meat animals. Fifteen other countries, including the Fiji Is- 
lands, have such laws. Federal legislation, however, does not cover all animals, 
therefore legislation is or will be sought in 38 States that to date have not passed 
State humane slaughter bills. 
WILD HOKSES 
Then there was the passage of the “wild-horse” bill, which forbids the round- 
ing up by airplanes of wild horses still left on the plains and rimrock. This 
success prompted the last Clark Gable film, “The Misfits.” 
And at the end of the last session of Congress, President Kennedy signed a law 
making surplus grain available to prevent starvation of game birds and other 
wildlife during blizzards. 
Much of the recent progress is due to the entrance into the field of several new 
national humane organizations. Also many church and civic groups, including 
the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, have backed humane legislation. Pope 
John recently gave his blessing to the 3-year-old National Catholic Society for 
Animal Welfare. 
Many humane campaigns still lie ahead. For example, humane groups take a 
dim view of the Department of Interior’s recommendation that sealions in Alas- 
kan waters be slaughtered for mink food. Experimental slaughter action left 
many animals maimed. Legislation will probably be introduced to outlaw, as it 
is in several countries, the steel leg-grip trap, asking that the more humane 
instant-killing traps be substituted. In Western States, such as Wyoming, there 
is a move afoot to outlaw “steer busting” exhibities that cripple and kill steers. 
Two bills are now pending in Congress to regulate the care and use of animals 
used for research. Proponents claim that medical science will not be set back, 
but furthered by better provisions for care and for control of fear and pain. 
The record to date of humanitarians in obtaining animal protective laws is 
leading many Congressmen to the same conclusion. It is, they realize, both 
morally and politically sound to heed their constituents’ and their own unquiet 
consciences in working to forbid cruelty. 
Note. — This column was distributed nationally by the McClure Newspaper 
Syndicate. The one reproduced here appeared in the Champaign-Urbana (111.) 
Courier on November 30, 1961. 
[From the Des Moines Tribune, Sept. 26, 1962] 
Hearings Set — Lab Animals’ Care Protested 
(By Ann Cottrell Free) 
Washington, D.C. — This Friday, for the first time in history. Congress will 
listen to the increasing demands for better care of the millions of animals used 
in federally supported research. 
The increase of research funds into the billions of dollars has resulted in an 
unprecedented use of experimental animals. It is estimated that as many as 
300 million animals are used annually in medical, atomic, defense, and space 
research. 
Many of these animals reportedly are ill housed. Dogs, for example, often are 
kept in cages without exercise for years. Needless suffering, humanitarians 
claim, results from inadequate postoperative care. Also, they say, painful 
experiments may be needlessly duplicated because of an inadequate central 
clearinghouse on test information. 
LETTERS POUR IN 
Representative Kenneth Roberts, Democrat, of Alabama, chairman of the sub- 
committee that will hold hearings, says: “This is a field that has grown so fast 
that the facts must be explored and put on the printed record.” 
It is too late for action this year, he said. But hearings are being held, never- 
theless, in response to thousands of letters flooding congressional offices for the 
past 2 years. 
