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2008 Animal Care and Experimentation Committee Report

The Animal Care and Experi-mentation (ACE) Committee works within the framework of the advocacy goal in the 2006 APS strategic plan. This goal calls for the APS to drive understanding of and appreciation for physiology and to strengthen public and private support for physiological research. During 2007-2008, the ACE Committee was particularly involved in legislative issues because of repeated efforts by anti-research groups to place new restrictions on research involving animals.

Animal Welfare Act Issues and the Farm Bill

Two provisions to amend the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) were added to the House and Senate farm bills just before passage. In each case, the measures were included in a block of amendments adopted on the floor without discussion or debate. One amendment would have banned Class B dealer sales of non-purpose bred dogs and cats, while the other would have prohibited demonstrating medical devices on animals. The APS opposed both measures because the AWA already provides authority to regulate the activities in question. In addition, efforts were already underway at NIH to commission an assessment of needs for Class B dealer supplied dogs and cats in medical research, which would have been pre-empted by the farm bill amendment. The sales demonstration prohibition was written so broadly that it would have covered any marketing-related activity using live animals to demonstrate the function of medical devices, including previously recorded videos. This could have hampered the dissemination of new technologies with applications for medical research as well as for direct patient care. Thanks to the efforts of APS and other organizations, Congress eliminated these potentially damaging provisions from the final version of the farm bill while approving an increase in the maximum fines for AWA violations from $2,500 to $10,000. (For more details on the 2008 Farm Bill, see “NAS to Study Need for Class B Animals, Dealers.” The Physiologist 51: 159, 2008.)

When the ACE Committee met in Bethesda in September 2007, members also spent a day on Capitol Hill to discuss animal welfare issues with Members of Congress and legislative staff. Virtually every office they visited had already been lobbied by animal rights groups supporting new restrictions on research. ACE Committee members were often the first scientists who had visited these offices to provide the research community’s perspective on the proposed restrictions. During the next several months, the APS Science Policy staff worked closely with other pro-research organizations to explain to Members of Congress how these issues are currently addressed in the Animal Welfare Act and the negative impacts of the proposed restrictions.

ILAR Guide Update

The major committee activity planned for 2008 was to make recommendations concerning an update to Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. The Institute for Laboratory Animal Research at the National Academy of Sciences has appointed a committee of experts to undertake an update to the current version of the Guide, which was published in 1996. As a first step, over the summer, the Committee began reviewing the Guide to identify areas that may need to be updated. The Committee’s fall 2008 meeting has been timed to coincide with the September 26 meeting of the ILAR Committee to Update the Guide. This was intended to provide the ACE Committee insight into the direction and focus of the Guide committee.

Animals in Medical Education

In early 2008, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine claimed victory in eliminating dog labs from all regular medical school physiology courses. Ironically, this announcement provoked a renewed debate on what such exercises contribute to student learning.

In 2004, the APS adopted a Position Statement on Animals in Teaching which pointed out that “study of living systems is an essential component of physiology instruction.” It noted further that “active participation and discovery learning opportunities provided by teaching laboratories allow students to hone independent and life-long learning skills such as analytical and problem solving skills.” It went on to say that “[a]nimal laboratories should be offered for valid educational reasons, where the use of the laboratory builds important knowledge, skills, and/or attitudes” and concluded by stating that “the American Physiological Society is committed to the continuing development of resources that enhance the student laboratory experience for all types of learners.” The complete statement may be found at http://www.the-aps.org/pa/resources/policyStmnts/paPolicyStmnts_teaching.htm.

The ACE Committee and the APS Office of Science Policy will continue to monitor the debate over animals in teaching and will contribute as appropriate.

Addressing regulatory burden

Regulatory burden associated with the conduct of research is a topic of increasing concern to APS members. The ACE Committee has tried to address this problem in the area of animal research through active participation in discussions of regulatory issues. In 2007 and 2008, the Committee submitted comments on the USDA APHIS Animal Care Policy Manual and sent representatives to two major conferences on animal welfare regulatory issues. By encouraging the participation of active scientists in these conferences, the Committee hopes to temper the trend towards specific regulations and paperwork requirements for every aspect and detail of animal research.

In 2009, the ACE Committee will co-sponsor the Public Affairs symposium on this issue. The title of the symposium is “Scientists and Regulatory Burden: Navigating the Rugged Landscape.”