British science magazine New Scientist, a writer recently
describedtheUnitedStatesas“acountrywhich,asreflected
initslegislationtoprotectanimals,seemstobeanationof
barbarians.”^113 As the United States lagged behind the
civilized worldin outlawing humanslavery,so theUnited
States now lags behind in softening the unrestrained
brutalities of animal slavery.
MinoramendmentstotheUnitedStatesAnimalWelfareAct
in 1985 improvedexerciserequirementsfordogsandhousing
forprimates,butfailedtodealwiththerealissueofcontrol
over whathappens duringan experiment.Theamendments
setupinstitutionalanimalcommittees,butinkeepingwiththe
unchanged exemption from interference given to the
experimentsthemselves,thesecommitteeshavenoauthority
over what goes on in the experiments.^114
Inanycase,despitethefactthattheAnimalWelfareActwas
passed more than twenty years ago, its enforcement is
virtuallynil.Forastart,thesecretaryofagriculturehasnever
even issued regulations extending the act’s provisions to
mice, rats, birds, and farm animals used in research.
Presumably this is because theDepartment of Agriculture
does not even have enough inspectors to check on the
conditionsofsuch animalsas dogs,cats,and monkeys, let
alonebirds,rats, mice,andfarmanimals. AstheOfficeof
Technology Assessment said, “funds and personnel for
enforcementhaveneverliveduptotheexpectationsofthose
whobelievetheprimarymissionoftheexistinglawtobethe
preventionor alleviationofexperimentalanimalsuffering.”
OTAstaffcheckedonelistof 112 testingfacilities,andfound
that 39 percentwerenotevenregisteredwiththebranchof
the Department of Agriculture that inspects laboratories.