VIVISECTION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
781 
VIVISECTION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
SENATE BILL 1552. 
FOR THE FURTHER PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS IN 
THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.* 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That hereafter no person shall perform on a living verte¬ 
brate animal any experiment calculated to give pain to such animal, except subject to the 
restrictions hereinafter prescribed. Any person performing, or taking part in performing, 
any experiment calculated to give pain, in contravention of this Act, shall be guilty of an 
offense against this Act, and shall, if it be the first offense, be liable to a penalty not ex 
ceedmg one hundred and fifty dollars, and if it be the second or any subsequent offense 
shall be liable, at the discretion of the court by which he is tried, to a penalty not exceed- 
mg three hundred dollars, or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months. 
Sec. 2. That the following restrictions are imposed by this Act with respect to the per- 
foimance on any living vertebrate animal of an experiment calculated to give pain to such 
animal ; that is to say : 
(a) 1 he experiment must be performed with a view to the advancement by new dis¬ 
covery of physiological knowledge, or of knowledge which will be useful for saving or pro¬ 
longing life or alleviating suffering ; and 
(b) 1 he experiment must be performed by a person holding such license from the 
Commissioners of the District of Columbia as in this Act mentioned, or by a duly author¬ 
ized officer of the Government of the United States or of the District of Columbia ; and 
(c) T he animal must, during the whole of the experiment, be completely under the 
influence of ether or chloroform sufficiently to prevent the animal from feeling pain ; ex¬ 
cepting only that in so called inoculation experiments, or tests of drugs or medicines, the 
animal need not be anaesthetized nor killed afterwards ; nor in tests of surgical procedure 
need animals be kept completely anaesthetized during the process of recovery from the 
surgical operation. Otherwise than this, the animal must be kept from pain during all 
experiments ; and, & 
(d) I he animal must, if the pain is likely to continue after the effect of the anaesthetic 
has ceased, or if any serious injury has been inflicted on the animal, be killed before it re¬ 
covers from the influence of the anaesthetic which has been administered ; and 
(e) No experiment shall be made upon any living creature, calculated to give pain to 
such creature, in any of the public schools of the District of Columbia ; provided as fol¬ 
lows, that is to say : 
First. Experiments may be performed under the foregoing provisions as to the use of 
anaesthetics by a person giving illustrations of lectures in medical schools, hospitals, or col¬ 
leges,. on such certificate being given as in this Act hereafter mentioned, that the proposed 
experiments are absolutely necessary for the due instruction of the persons to whom such 
lectures are given, with a view to their acquiring physiological knowledge or knowledge 
which will be useful to them for saving or prolonging life or alleviating suffering; 
Second, The substance known as urari, or curare, shall not, for the purposes of this 
Act. be deemed to be an anaesthetic ; and 
Third. Notwithstanding anything in this Act contained, no experiment calculated to 
give pain shall be performed on a dog or cat, except upon such certificate being given 
as in this Act mentioned, stating, in addition to the statements hereinbefore required to be 
made in such certificate, that for reasons specified in the certificate the object of the exper¬ 
iment will be necessarily frustrated unless it is performed on an animal similar in constitu¬ 
tion and habits to a cat or dog, and no other animal is available for such experiment; 
and an experiment calculated to give pain shall not be performed on any horse, ass, or 
mule, except on such certificate being given as in this Act mentioned, that the object of the 
experiment will be necessarily frustrated unless it is performed on a horse, ass, or mule, 
and that no other animal is available for such purpose ; and 
* As favorably reported to the Senate May 26, 1896, by the Committee on the Distiict of Co¬ 
lumbia. 
