Sally Walshaw loves working with animals, especially the furry little mice and rats used for laboratory research - but she hates the paperwork involved with them.
“We already have steps in place that ensure that all of the animals used for research here at MSU are taken care of and treated with the highest quality of care,” said Walshaw, acting director and training coordinator for MSU’s University Laboratory Animal Resources Center.
Although birds and rodents are not covered by the Animal Welfare Act, some animal rights activists have been lobbying to have them included in the act, the chief federal law regulating the use of laboratory animals. The U.S. Senate approved a measure this month that would continue to exclude birds and rodents from the act.
Some university lobbyists have fought for such a measure to curb the costs of biomedical research. With the bill, which must still be approved by the U.S. House, there is less paperwork for researchers to complete.
“The State of Michigan already puts the protection of animals in laboratory research as part of Michigan law,” Walshaw said. “You can’t get out of it in Michigan and several other states. We are already regulated by other regulatory bodies so there won’t be any impact one way or another.
“I’m just afraid that the extra regulation (would) increase our paperwork and administrative work. The United States Department of Agriculture regulation won’t impact anything as far as the animals’ care is concerned, it will only create more work for researchers.
“In the end it must be remembered that this is the United States and you can work hard to try to change legislation, on both sides, but whatever Congress decides must be followed.”
Some MSU researchers said the measure would not affect the treatment of lab animals for research.
“All this measure says is that inspectors would no longer be responsible for inspecting facilities that involve rats, mice and birds,” said Don Garling, chairman of MSU’s All-University Committee on Animal Use and Care. “As long as there are groups like ours, there is still the responsibility out there to make sure all warm-blooded animals are afforded the human care that is needed.”
Every research project at MSU is reviewed before the researcher can begin. Garling said researchers are taught to reduce the number of animals used, try to replace animals with technology in their research and refine the amount of pain the animals feel.
Despite the safety efforts, some animal rights advocates are disappointed by the Senate’s actions.
Martin Stephens, vice president of animal research issues for The Humane Society of the United States, said the issue did not get a fair hearing.
“The issue was brought up, but the substance of the issue was not debated,” he said. “The real issue was not touched on. All this means for us here at The Humane Society of the United States is that our fight continues. We have been fighting about this since the early ’90s, and our fight is far from over.”
Stephens said the whole exclusion has him worried that animal researchers won’t have to follow animal regulations for rats, mice and birds.
“This won’t make a difference for those who already follow the act, but for others, it will cause serious trouble,” he said. “This will just allow animal researchers to continue to exclude information on these species, which is frustrating to us who want to know how many of these animals are used each year.”
