Guest guest Posted October 3, 2000 Report Share Posted October 3, 2000 Animal Regulations to Expand By Rick Weiss Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, October 3, 2000 Under intense legal pressure from animal rights activists, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has reluctantly agreed to expand its regulation of research animals to include mice, rats and birds for the first time. The move has infuriated some biomedical researchers and patient support groups, who claimed it could cost the nation hundreds of millions of dollars in paperwork costs and slow the search for cures. Under the terms of an out-of-court settlement reached late last week, USDA will start a formal rule-making process to spell out minimum standards of care for the tens of millions of rodents and birds that U.S. researchers use in their labs. The agreement, which must gain final approval from the U.S. District Court, marks a hard-won victory for animal activists, who for more than a decade have pursued a variety of legal avenues aimed at bringing rodents and birds under the 1966 Animal Welfare Act's umbrella of protections. The act, which is the nation's keystone statute relating to animal use and care, requires USDA to promulgate rules protecting all warm-blooded animals used for research, testing, experimentation and other purposes. More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63883-2000Oct2.html -- Free email services provided by http://www.goodkarmacafe.com Powered by Outblaze Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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