HUMANE TREATMENT OF ANIMALS USED IN RESEARCH 321 
Statement by the American Public Health Association Submitted by Noble 
J. Swearingen, Director, Washington Office 
It is recognized that the health, welfare, and progress of man have been 
favorably influenced in many ways by vertebrate animals, and that the health 
and welfare of these friends and benefactors of man should be fostered and that 
they must be spared any unnecessary pain or fear. 
It is specifically recognized that laboratory animals have had an indispensable 
role in the advancement of the medical and health sciences. Without them the 
modern knowledge of nutrition, which has benefited animal and man alike, 
could not have been accumulated. Through their use biological products have 
been prepared and titrated, the tolerance levels of new drugs have been estab- 
lished, and new surgical procedures have been perfected. Together these ad- 
vances in medical science are saving millions of lives and much human and 
animal suffering. These are illustrative of the importance of animals in research. 
It is the policy of this association to encourage every practicable improvement 
in the care and use of laboratory animals. To this end it is emphasized and 
recommended that : 
(1) Animals free of infection and in satisfactory physical and mental 
condition are necessary for the needs of science. It is therefore the policy 
of the association to attempt to understand factors that bear on the health 
and comfort of animals used for experimental purposes and to encourage the 
maintenance and improvement of these factors where needed in the care and 
use of such animals. 
(2) More critical attention should be directed to the nature of the facili- 
ties and the care required for the maintenance of laboratory animals in a 
healthful environment. 
(3) Steps should be taken to collect dependable objective observations on 
the use of laboratory animals. Prior to consideration of the establishment 
of any control procedures, the nature of practices warranting control need 
to be defined by secure data. 
If on the basis of assembled objective findings, control procedures are indi- 
cated, these should be designed in accordance with the following criteria : 
(1) They should be directed specifically to the control of undesirable prac- 
tices where these are occurring. Blanket procedures affecting predominantly 
the most dependable users of laboratory animals, e.g., institutions which can 
qualify for Federal grants, are to be avoided. 
(2) The responsibilty and authority for control should be vested in of- 
ficial agencies as close as practicable to the need for control, i.e., in municipal 
and State rather than Federal agencies. Any such control body should have 
representation of appropriate professional skills. 
(3) Conditions favorable to the advancement of the medical and health 
sciences as well as conditions which will prevent unnecessary pain and fear 
in laboratory animals must be maintained. To this end any action which 
could impose a bureaucratic control over medical research is vigorously 
opposed. 
Statement of Mrs. Frank Allen West, Representing the Tail-W aggers’ 
Club, Inc. 
I am Mrs. Frank Allen West, a director of the Tail-Waggers’ Club, which 
operates a nonprofit animal clinic, and a member of the District Animal Allocation 
Board, which licenses metropolitan agencies to receive District pound animals 
for medical experimentation. 
The Tail-Waggers’ Club voted to endorse release of these animals for experi- 
mentation to obtain legislation providing for inspection and regulation of animal 
laboratory quarters. Previous to the passage of this ordinance, I had visited the 
animal quarters of the three local medical schools. 
The conditions were shocking due to overcrowding, mesh-bottom cages, too 
small for animal occupants who were confined for months and sometimes for 
years with no exercise facilities, and stench due to filth and lack of ventilation. 
It was not necessary to be a trained observer to realize the needless suffering 
inflicted by these conditions. 
Now, I am happy to report, conditions have been ameliorated. New quarters 
have been built in all three schools. There are better cages and ventilation and 
some outside runs have been provided. 
