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2006 Animal Care and Experimentation Committee Report
APS Resource Book for the Design of Animal Exercise
Protocols
The APS’s Resource Book for the Design of Animal
Exercise Protocols was published in February 2006. The Resource Book, which
is available as a pdf file on the APS website, is intended for the use not
only of physiologists but also of any scientist conducting exercise
research. This project was funded by NIH’s Office of Laboratory Animal
Welfare (OLAW), and OLAW purchased 1500 copies that are being distributed to
individuals upon request. Additional copies are available for sale from the
APS store for $9.50. The APS announcement about publication of the Resource
Book was carried on the OLAW listserv, on CompMed, and in the electronic
newsletters of the Americans for Medical Progress and Foundation for
Biomedical Research, which are disseminated widely in the research
community. Announcements and sample copies of the book were sent to the
Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC);
the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS); Public
Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R); the NAS Institute for
Laboratory Animal Research (ILAR); Scientists Center for Animal Welfare (SCAW);
the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), and the Department of
Veterans Affairs. Review copies were sent to Lab Animal and Contemporary
Topics in Laboratory Animal Medicine.
Advocacy based upon the APS Position Statement and
Rationale on the Use of Animals in Teaching
The APS Position Statement and Rationale on the Use of
Animals in Teaching Statement grew out of sentiment in both the ACE and
Education Committees that the Society should take a more active stance in
light of ongoing efforts by animal rights activists to curtail the use of
animals in medical and veterinary education. A task force was subsequently
formed under the leadership of Rob Carroll with representatives of the ACE
and Education Committees. The position statement was approved by Council in
November 2004. However, APS delayed a public announcement of the new
position statement so that it could be released when “The Evolving Role of
Animal Laboratories in Physiology Instruction,” was published in Advances in
Physiology Education. These materials were disseminated in August 2005 to
the National Association of Biology Teachers, National Science Teachers
Association, AAMC, Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges,
APHIS, OLAW, AAALAC, PRIM&R, and SCAW.
The value of having these resources available was
highlighted in March 2006 when the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an
article that was critical of the Medical College of Wisconsin’s (MCW)
physiology lab for medical students. The article quoted extensively from
representatives of the Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM).
Representatives of MCW contacted the newspaper using the APS position
statement and the article. The newspaper took an editorial position in
support of the MCW dog lab.
Pain and Distress Management Issues
In January 2005, APS convened a working group to
discuss regulatory issues related to pain and distress. One of the main
themes that emerged was the need for our regulatory system to treat pain and
distress as distinct entities. Those discussions ended up playing a role in
NIH’s decision to ask ILAR to update its 1992 report on recognition and
alleviation of pain and distress in laboratory animals in two separate
reports. The first part of the update will deal with distress and will be
followed later by a report on pain. Although that was considered an
important step, when the composition of the distress committee was
announced, concerns were raised about the qualifications of certain members.
A comment letter was drafted that outlined the scientific qualifications
committee members ought to have and pointed out deficiencies with respect to
certain members, who lacked the relevant background.
On April 10, 2006, the ILAR committee began its fact
finding with a Workshop on Recognition of Distress in Laboratory Animals.
Former ACE Chair J.R. Haywood was invited to make comments about the
scientific challenges in developing a science-based definition of when
stress becomes distress, recognizing distress in laboratory animals, and
validating assessments of distress in laboratory animals. Andrew Rowan of
the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) was also invited to address
the same topics. In his remarks Rowan announced that the HSUS is about to
publish its own pain and distress report in furtherance of its Project 2020
to eliminate pain and distress in laboratory animals by that year.
To date, the APS has received an acknowledgement of the
APS letter but no substantive response to its recommendations. However, we
have heard unofficially that scientists with relevant expertise will be
added to the ILAR committee roster. We may have further opportunities to
make comments and recommendations concerning the substance of the report.
Public Outreach Partnership with SUBR
APS is partnering with States United for Biomedical
Research (SUBR) in a new outreach program. SUBR is a consortium of state
and regional associations that promote public support for biomedical
research and the use of animals in research. The APS/SUBR Partnership is a
pilot program to design, test and implement a physiologist speaker/public
outreach project that includes public information on the humane use of
animals in research, education and testing.
The partnership is unique in its design. The model
includes on-site training for physiologists and other science professionals
but it also includes: a) support from SUBR for development of on-site
organizational structure to generate and track outreach opportunities and b)
ongoing support to speakers and those individuals involved with the
organizational structure.
SUBR is now in process of developing a speaker handbook
to accompany the pilot training session in Iowa later this year (date yet to
be determined). We anticipate training 10-15 physiologists/other science
professionals in Iowa and providing ongoing support for 12 months from the
date of the training session. This project will provide a good test
environment for training in public outreach on animal welfare issues and how
to deal with the public.
APS Participation in Animal Welfare Meetings
Current and former ACE Committee members regularly
attend specialty meetings that deal with animal welfare oversight issues.
For new members on the Committee, participation serves an important
educational function because it introduces them to ongoing legislative and
regulatory issues. Several such meetings occur each year to offer education
and training for veterinarians, scientists, IACUC members, and other
research facility staff. As part of our efforts to “improve the
effectiveness of APS advocacy for public policy,” it is a goal of the ACE
Committee to take a leadership position on animal welfare issues. During
the past year, committee members participated in the following meetings:
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Kevin Kregel, Linda Toth, Bill Talman and Alice
Ra’anan: AAALAC Board of Trustees Meeting, Bethesda, MD, September
2005.
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Karie Scrogin: SCAW (Scientists Center for Animal
Welfare) Meeting, San Antonio, TX, December 2005.
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Kevin Kregel, Alice Ra’anan, Linda Toth, and JR
Haywood: PRIM&R (Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research)
Meeting, Boston, MA, March 2006.
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Alice Ra’anan and Martin Frank: NABR conference,
May 2006
EB Symposium 2007
The committee has submitted a request for a symposium
slot at EB 2007 entitled “Alternatives Revisited: Scientific Perspectives.”
The goal of the symposium is to present a reconsideration of the notion of
alternatives. Several speakers have been invited to discuss issues related
to study design, highlighting the notion that good science often requires an
interplay rather than a substitution of animal and non-animal models.
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