Cambridge Takes the Lead In Regulating Lab Rat Race

After a long and often bitter battle between animal rights activists and Cambridge's vast scientific and research community, the city council this summer passed a ground-breaking ordinance to monitor the care of laboratory animals.

Although advocates hailed the June 28 ordinance--the first such legislation ever enacted by an American city--as an important step forward, researchers at Harvard and MIT said that the council's move would have little effect on their research.

"It won't change the research that's being done because we already have very high standards," says Agassiz Professor of Zoology C. Richard Taylor, who heads Harvard's animal care committee. "We're doing a terrific job."

The new ordinance extends the existing federal and state guidelines to include all nonhuman vertebrates and requires all research institutions to set up animal care and use committees with the power to review and halt experiments. It also sets up a citywide commissioner of laboratory animals to conduct regular inspections of research facilities.