270 • Alternatives to Animal Use in Research, Testing, and Education 
Funds for alterations and renovations are limited 
to $100,000, although requests for funds for equip- 
ment may push the total above this amount. 
The second program draws from a one-time pool 
of $5 million. Support for new construction is not 
available, and funding for alterations and renova- 
tions is limited to $500,000 for each award. Recip- 
ient institutions are required to match these funds 
dollar for dollar. As in the ongoing program, funds 
may be requested for equipment in addition to this 
amount. More than 100 applications have been re- 
ceived; of these, only 12 requested the maximum 
funds for renovations and alterations. Many, how- 
ever, exceeded $700,000 in their total request. The 
applications averaged in the $300,000 to $400,000 
range. Some 12 to 15 projects are likely to be 
funded, and grants will probably range from $65,000 
to $750,000 (9). 
It is important to note that at least two other 
sources of funding for improvement of animal fa- 
cilities are available to NIH grantees. First, an in- 
stitution’s maintenance of facilities is an allowa- 
ble indirect cost of research. Second, the National 
Cancer Institute is allowed to make awards for fa- 
cilities renovation (6). 
Groups other than NIH are also devoting re- 
sources to improvements in animal facilities. In- 
dustry laboratories, contract laboratories, and 
universities are mustering both internal and ex- 
ternal funds to improve their facilities. For com- 
mercial groups, a longer term economic advan- 
tage is recognized in these efforts . Contract testing 
labs, in particular, have special incentives to main- 
tain the highest laboratory standards in order to 
attract clients. 
Research in Animal Health and Pain 
Funding devoted to research in animal health 
can function in an analogous fashion to efforts to 
improve animal care facilities . It creates the scien- 
tific base on which improvements in facilities and 
practices may be based . The larger the knowledge 
base on animal research grows, the more exact 
and focused research using animals can become 
and, ultimately, the smaller the number of animals 
included in individual protocols. 
Parallel with this , research into the mechanisms 
of pain and pain perception can contribute knowl- 
edge that allows researchers to alleviate pain in 
experimental protocols. This can include research 
on the detection of pain and distress , for example , 
that would allow an investigator to detect these 
phenomena with greater sensitivity. Advances in 
analgesics and anesthetics may produce less dis- 
tortion in some protocols and allow animals a great- 
er degree of comfort. 
As an example, Humane Information Services, 
Inc., awarded $184,000 in research grants during 
1984 to support eight agricultural research projects 
directed toward the alleviation of animal suffer- 
ing. Included were studies on the behavioral ef- 
fects of several types of housing for pigs and 
chickens, studies of electronic immobilization, and 
projects aimed at reducing the stress of weaning 
and pre -slaughter handling. Similar efforts could 
be undertaken in testing and research to maximize 
the information obtained from protocols while 
minimizing pain and suffering for the subjects. 
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 
Measuring the funding of alternatives is inex- 
act at best. Funding of replacements is easiest to 
measure, while the data are poor for reductions 
and refinements. The easiest type of research to 
recognize and categorize as related to alternatives 
is targeted research. Such work is most often asso- 
ciated with technique development— for example, 
the effort to replace whole-animal testing assays 
with in vitro tests, as with the Draize eye irritancy 
test. 
The development of alternatives, especially re- 
placements, is likely to be the result of multidisci- 
plinary efforts, executed over relatively long pe- 
riods of time. The results of research can be 
transferred across the sciences— as has happened, 
for example, with the noninvasive imaging tech- 
nologies developed by physicists that are now used 
in the biomedical sciences. 
