312 HUMANE TREATMENT OF ANIMALS USED IN RESEARCH 
I heard a middle-aged doctor say a few months ago, “In the newer graduates 
one can detect * * * a little coldness.” Do any of us wish to be treated by 
physicians in whom there is coldness? One very effective way to prevent the 
coldness is to make sure that, as students, they treated with mercy the animal 
subjects through whose suffering they have learned their skills. 
Statement of Eleanob Ckissey, M.D. 
My name is Eleanor Crissey. I am a physician in private practice in New 
York City and psychiatrist to outpatients at the New York Hospital, Department 
of Psychiatry, Cornel Medical School. I urge prompt enactment of H.R. 1937 
for the humane treatment of experimental animals. I consider this legislation 
to be of major importance for two fundamental reasons: because animals should 
not be forced to undergo needless suffering, and because the inflicting of cruelty 
and the callousness which results from it damage the characters of individuals 
or groups of persons permitted to inflict it. 
I have long been concerned with this latter problem, in fact, since my studies 
at Smith College where I took a master of science degree in psychiatric social 
work. My later experiences as an intern and resident at Bellevue Psychiatric 
Hospital provided further evidence of the profound seriousness of the problem. 
It is essential for the health of our society to prevent cruelty; especially im- 
portant is the prevention of mental attitudes which gloss over and justify cruelty 
while in fact encouraging its spread. H.R. 1937, by seeking to keep the in- 
fliction of suffering to a minimum, brings the moral problem to the consciousness 
of each individual who uses laboratory animals. It becomes his duty by law 
to plan his research in the most humane manner he can devise. Legislation of 
this kind is the most effective education. In Great Britain where a similar law 
has been in force for nearly a century, the relatively far more considerate atti- 
tude toward animals in laboratories has grown up as a kind of second nature. 
This is a healtly cultural influence which we should encourage. 
These simple and effective rules to prevent needless suffering are the opposite 
of attitudes which I have observed in too many cases with regard to experi- 
mental animals. Indifference and callousness on the part of some, combine with 
cruelty on the part of others to create intolerable conditions for animals. 
Furthermore, this results in the injury, suffering, and death of animals for 
reasons quite unconnected with the research for which they are being used. 
As a result, the data is partly wrong, and their publication is likely to lead to 
further confusion yet even in institutions where large sums are expended for 
animal experiments, failure to house and care for animals humanely is constantly 
creating this confusion. Use of needlessly large numbers of animals and the 
overcrowding which so often brings about the death of a portion of the animals is 
just one cause. Irresponsibility and ignorance on the part of animal caretakers 
and failure to follow up on the part of administrators cause untold amounts of 
suffering among laboratory animals. Most of this suffering never comes to 
light. The only people who know about it are those who are responsible for it. 
It is essential that able inspectors, enforcing a clearly defined law such as 
H.R. 1937 and S. 3088, be empowered to visit unannounced and to insist upon 
the raising of standards wherever necessary in the treatment of laboratory ani- 
mals, first, in the humane design of experiments, second, in the provision of a 
reasonable amount of space for every animal to move about in and to live com- 
fortably, and third, in care and handling, feeding and watering. In all three of 
these categories suffering which causes terror and despair should be given care- 
ful consideration, as well as physical suffering. Experimental psychology has 
long established that many of the species of animals used generally for experi- 
mental purposes of all kinds can undergo mental suffering, despair, and death 
from these causes in much the same manner as human beings. We cannot, 
therefore, in good conscience, limit our concern nor leave these conditions, as 
they now are left, in the hands of individuals, who, by reason of ambition, in- 
difference, callousness, or even laziness, cause endless suffering, maiming, and 
needless agony to unprotected animals. 
I strongly urge prompt enactment of H.R. 1937 and S. 3088 for the good of 
the animals, for the accuracy and validity of the scientific work in which they 
are used, and for the good of the civilization which our country represents 
which must not continue to be blighted by cruelty to the defenseless. 
