Harvard Lab Animals

The Cambridge Committee for Responsible Research applauds the recent appointment of the nation's first Commissioner of Lab Animals by Cambridge. In your article covering this historic event [The Harvard Crimson, May 9, 1990] Harvard Animal Care Committee Chairperson Dr. Richard Taylor claims that Harvard's programs are "exemplary" and beyond reproach.

But in previous federal inspections, Harvard has been cited regularly for violations of basic care and hygiene. The federal Animal Welfare Act, which covers only five percent of the animals used in Cambridge labs, and prohibits any regulation of actual procedures carried out on animals, requires the presence of a non-affiliated member on it concerns for animal welfare. Yet Harvard's unaffiliated member has spoken out against the need for such an animal advocate in Cambridge.

It should also be noted that new, stricter regulations of research at Harvard were released just 24 hours before the visit by the city commission investigating allegations of animal abuse in the city. Thus even the expectation of greater public scrutiny seems to result in important reforms.

Taylor also makes the incredible and undocumented claim that animal rights groups have increased the cost of animal reserach by an "order of magnitude." With certain exceptions, such as the cost of purchasing purpose-bred dogs versus those procured from shelters, the costs of procuring and caring for animals, adjusted for inflation, have not increased significantly and still make up only a small fraction of total funds allocated for research, the bulk of which continues to go to salaries and institutional overhead.

Should it surprise anyone that the estimated $100 million per year Cambridge animal research industry complains about the extra one-tenth of one percent cost required to carry out the provisions of the Lab Animal Ordinance and office of the Commissioner for Lab Animals? Speaking of the need for regulation of industries by the public, MIT Professor of Nuclear Engineering Lawrence Lidsky has said, "No one ever said democracy ws the most efficient way to get a job done. It happens, however, to be the only one we can trust."

We invite Harvard and other institutions receiving taxpayer support to volunarily open their animal care committee meetings to public observation. This is the case at the University of Massachusetts and the University of Lowell. This would be viewed as a small but positive step by Cambridge citizens of Harvard's willingness to consider public concerns regarding humane treatment of animals in labs. Ole Anderson   Executive Director Committee for Responsible Research