Ch. 13— Federal Regulation of Animal Use • 279 
The amendments announced a commitment to 
the humane ethic that animals should be accorded 
the basic creature comforts of adequate housing, 
ample food and water, reasonable handling, de- 
cent sanitation, sufficient ventilation, shelter from 
extremes of weather and temperature, and ade- 
quate veterinary care, including the appropriate 
use of pain killing drugs. Besides adding handling 
to the basic categories of care, treatment, and trans- 
portation of covered animals, the standard of "ade- 
quate veterinary care” was broadened to include 
the appropriate use of anesthetic, analgesic, or 
tranquilizing drugs, when the use of such drugs 
is considered proper in the opinion of the attend- 
ing veterinarian at a research facility. 
The prohibition on interference with research 
was qualified in 1970 with a proviso that every 
covered research facility must show, at least an- 
nually, that professionally acceptable standards 
of animal care, treatment, and use are being fol- 
lowed by each research facility during actual re- 
search or experimentation. However, the intent 
regarding the continued prohibition on interfer- 
ence in experimentation itself was clear (35): 
... it is the intention of the committee that the 
Secretary neither directly nor indirectly in any 
manner interfere with or harass research facil- 
ities during the conduct of actual research or ex- 
perimentation. The important determination of 
when an animal is in actual research is left to the 
research facility itself. 
Similarly, the House Committee on Agriculture’s 
report on this bill stated that the inspection sec- 
tion applies only to agencies with general law en- 
forcement authority and is not intended to "be used 
by private citizens or law enforcement officers to 
harass research facilities and in no event shall such 
officers inspect the animals when the animals are 
undergoing actual research or experimentation." 
In summarizing these provisions, the report said 
that "the research scientist still holds the key to 
the laboratory door. This committee and Congress, 
however, expect that the work that’s done behind 
that laboratory door will be done with compas- 
sion and with care” (35). 
The committee report included a letter from the 
USDA Under Secretary indicating the Department: 
• was doing everything possible to carry out its 
assigned responsibilities under the act within 
the limitations of available resources of a fis- 
cal year 1970 appropriation of $337,000; 
• agreed with the objective of the legislation con - 
cerning the need for humane care and handl- 
ing of laboratory animals during actual re- 
search and experimentation, but believed "that 
the Department of Health, Education, and Wel- 
fare is the appropriate agency to administer 
such an activity. We would expect to work 
with that Department to help assure consist- 
ency of standards and make other necessary 
arrangements to promote the objectives of 
both Haws!"; and 
• suggested that regulating the humane care and 
handling of animals by exhibitors should be 
the responsibility of State and local agencies, 
rather than the Federal Government. 
The committee’s report, noting that license fee 
collections and appropriations in fiscal year 1971 
were expected to total $376,600, projected that 
the responsibilities added by the 1970 amendments 
would increase related program costs by approxi- 
mately $1.2 million annually . The report responded 
to research facilities' concerns that compliance 
with higher standards for adequate veterinary care 
would require substantial expenditures for new 
plants, equipment, and better trained personnel 
by urging "that adequate funds from Federal 
sources be made available for those research fa- 
cilities which depend to a large extent on support 
derived from both State and Federal sources for 
laboratory facility improvements” (35). 
1976 Amendments 
Amendments to the Animal Welfare Act in 1 9 76 
(Public Law 94-279) enlarged its provisions to de- 
fine more sharply and to simplify the regulation 
of animals treated inhumanely during transpor- 
tation affecting interstate commerce and to com- 
bat ventures involving animal fighting. In brief, 
the amendments having an effect on experimen- 
tation: 
• added a specific finding that activities or ani- 
mals regulated bv the act are in interstate and 
foreign commerce and do, in fact, burden or 
