256 HUMANE TREATMENT OF ANIMALS USED IN RESEARCH 
submit, gentlemen, it is entirely possible a person holding a 1-year grant would 
never get his experiment done because of several necessary changes, each 
serially filed and individually approved. 
A third point I wish to make concerns the realism of some items in the bills. 
In paragraph (f) of section 12 of H.R. 3556 it states “anesthetics shall be 
administered only by a licensed veterinarian or a doctor of medicine quali- 
fied in anesthesiology, except that a student in a graduate medical school may 
do so for purposes of training when in the presence and under the immediate 
supervision o fa licensed veterinarian or doctor of medicine.” This paragraph, 
if enforced, would eliminate a significant part of all animal experimentation 
for the simple reason there are not enough veterinarians or doctors of medi- 
cine qualified in anesthesiology to go around. In fact, there are not enough 
doctors of medicine qualified in anesthesiology to administer anesthetics to 
human beings. A large share of anesthetics in hospitals today are given by 
nurse anesthetists. 
A fourth point I wish to make relates to the provisions concerning work by 
students. Both acts provide that students in a laboratory holding a certificate 
may, under supervision, conduct experiments or tests, but both acts go on to 
make these experiments or tests of no value because it is prescribed in H.R. 
3556 and 1937 in identical language, “* * * all animals used by students in 
practice or other painful procedures shall be under complete anesthesia and 
shall be killed without being allowed to recover consciousness.” Performance 
of the actual surgical procedure is only a small part of curing or correcting 
a surgical condition. Immediate postoperative care and dressing of the wounds 
will equally or more influence outcome. These bills would specify: you may 
practice operations on animals, but you must learn all other aspects of surgical 
care on human beings. 
There are many other items in these bills which I might discuss in this 
same manner, but I believe these four points indicate that enactment of this 
type of legislation would seriously impede scientific research in many fields — 
medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, and biology, to name a few. And, it 
would do it at a time when the declared policy of the Congress is to foster 
this type of research. I need only point to the increasing appropriations for re- 
search and for research facilities. The House of Representatives has recent- 
ly enacted legislation on adequate testing of drugs in animals before they are 
used in man. I believe H.R. 1937 and H.R. 3556 would make it difficult to 
carry through in a program of testing of drugs. 
May I conclude my remarks, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, by calling your 
attention to what scientists have done and are doing to improve the care of 
experimental animals. I wish to emphasize these steps antedate the first 
introduction of bills of this type in the Congress in 1960. In other words, 
our program is not one of defense, but one in which we believe and wish to 
carry through. The program of the National Society for Medical Research 
is based on areas, all of which are now authorized with the Public Health 
Service Act. I shall only mention these as there are others here today who 
are prepared to give you fuller information and I am aware of the need for 
brevity. 
First, more trained personnel at both the professional and technical levels, 
that is more veterinarians and more animal care technicians. Training cen- 
ters have been established. The American Veterinary Medical Association has 
a program for certification of competence in this field. 
Second, greater attention to planning of animal quarters and more research 
on the proper and adequate care of experimental animals and adequate dissemi- 
nation of this knowledge. Both of these objectives have the attention of the 
National Research Council, the National Institutes of Health, the Animal Care 
Panel, and various scientific agencies. 
Third, construction of more and better animal quarters in health schools and 
hospitals. It was my privilege to serve for 4 years on the National Advisory 
Council for Health Research Facilities of the U.S. Public Health Service, and I 
can assure many grants were made for this purpose and to a good end. 
Once again, Mr. Chairman, may I thank you for the privilege of appearing 
before you. 
