Rats/Mice/Birds Action Alerts

Posted May 14, 2002
USDA HAS NO MORE SAY OVER RATS, MICE, BIRDS
The amendment offered by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) to permanently exclude rats, mice, and birds from Animal Welfare Act coverage survived a House-Senate conference committee and was included in the Farm Bill passed by the Senate last week and signed yesterday by the President.

Passage of the amendment marks a significant victory for the biomedical research community. Nonetheless, savvy supporters know better than to rest on their laurels, recognizing that animal rights activists will soon find an alternate vehicle for making their case against the use of animals in research.

Posted March 25, 2002
FARM BILL STILL IN NEGOTIATION -- AMENDMENT INTACT
House-Senate Farm Bill conferees have adjourned for Easter Recess, leaving staff behind to continue negotiating. At last word, the amendment excluding rats, mice, and birds from the Animal Welfare Act was still intact. Additional advocacy efforts may be needed when Congress returns after Easter!

Posted March 19, 2002
PHONE CALLS NEEDED TODAY ON FARM BILL
Background: See below.

Action: The Farm Bill is now in conference committee on the Hill and the amendment that permanently excludes rats, mice, and birds from the Animal Welfare Act is still intact. This may be our last opportunity to let conferees know of our support.

If you reside in one of the following states--ALABAMA, CALIFORNIA, GEORGIA, INDIANA, IOWA, KANSAS, MINNESOTA, MISSISSIPPI, NORTH CAROLINA, NORTH DAKOTA, OHIO OKLAHOMA, PENNSYLVANIA, SOUTH DAKOTA, TEXAS, VERMONT, VIRGINIA--please read the linked message and make a phone call today. (If you are uncertain about your congressional representatives, you can check the Congressional Representative Search at http://www.faseb.org/opar/lac/congress.html.)

Posted February 27, 2002
ACTION NEEDED TO RETAIN HELMS AMENDMENT IN FARM BILL
Background: On February 12, the Senate agreed by voice vote to adopt an amendment to the Farm Bill (S. 1731), offered by Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC). The measure would exclude rats, mice, and birds from coverage under the Animal Welfare Act administered by USDA.

The bill is now going to a conference committee for reconciliation with the version passed by the House. The House version does not include the Animal Welfare Act exemption. Therefore, it's urgent that members of the conference committee be asked to include the Senate language in the bill.

Action: If one of the Senate or House conferees is your Senator or Representative, please contact him immediately. A sample letter is available to you as a Word file. Because the mail on Capitol Hill is still disrupted due to anthrax concerns, it is best to print your letters and fax them to the Washington, DC office. If you need to check on who represents you, go to the C-Span website at (http://www.capwiz.com/c-span/home/) and key in your zip code under "Elected Officials."

Posted February 13, 2002
HELMS AMENDMENT ON RATS, MICE AND BIRDS ACCEPTED BY SENATE
On February 12, the Senate agreed by voice vote to adopt an amendment to the Farm Bill (S. 1731), offered by Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC). The measure would exclude rats, mice, and birds from coverage under the Animal Welfare Act administered by USDA. This is a significant victory for the biomedical research community and we thank you for your efforts. However, we're not "home" yet!

Once the Senate votes on the entire legislative package, the bill will be sent to a conference committee for reconciliation with the version passed by the House. The House version does not include the Animal Welfare Act exemption. Therefore, we may need to call on you again in the near future to contact members of the conference committee.

Posted January 31, 2002
ASK YOUR SENATORS TO SUPPORT THE HELMS AMENDMENT TO THE FARM BILL
Research scientists are urgently requested to ask their Senators to support an amendment that would clarify the definition of "animal" regulated under the Animal Welfare Act and continue to exclude rats, mice, and birds from USDA oversight.

Background: When the Senate was debating the farm bill in December 2001, Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) drafted an amendment that would permanently change the definition of regulated animals in the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) to exclude rats, mice, and birds. The farm bill was pulled from the Senate floor after its sponsors failed three times to get enough votes to set a time limit on debate. However, this is considered important legislation and it is widely anticipated that the bill will be brought back to the Senate floor as soon as there is enough support to proceed.

The current USDA appropriations bill (FY 2002) included language that effectively requires the USDA to propose a change in the regulatory definition of "animal" under the AWA to include rats, mice, and birds. It remains to be seen precisely how the USDA would cover these species since the AWA regulatory requirements were developed with larger animals in mind. When the AWA was first adopted in 1966, it provided only for the welfare of dogs and cats in research. Other animal species were later added by law and by administrative action, but rats, mice, and birds have never been included.

Rats, mice, and birds represent some 95% of the animals used in research. Many in the research community oppose USDA regulation of these species because the vast majority of these animals already fall under one or more of the other animal welfare oversight systems (PHS Policy, AAALAC accreditation, and the Good Laboratory Practices Act). USDA regulation would not improve the quality of care provided to these animals, but new record keeping and inspection requirements would be costly and burdensome to implement.

Action: A sample letter is available to you as a Word file. Because the mail on Capitol Hill is still disrupted due to anthrax concerns, it is best to print your letters and fax them to your senators' Washington, DC offices. To determine your senators' fax numbers, go to the C-Span website at (http://capwiz.com/c-span/home/) and use the directory information provided under "Elected Officials" in the Congressional Information Center at the top of the page.

Additional background information:

Rats, mice, and birds should be excluded from the AWA because.

• Animal activists claim that the AWA is the only "law" guaranteeing the welfare of research animals, but this misrepresents the facts. The vast majority of the rats, mice, and birds used in biomedical research fall within the oversight framework provided by the Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Animals, the FDA's Good Laboratory Practices Act, or else are being used in institutions accredited by the Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC), International.
  
  
• All these oversight frameworks require that animals be cared for according to the National Academy of Sciences' authoritative Guide for the Care and Treatment of Laboratory Animals.

The USDA should not duplicate existing oversight efforts. The NAS Guide is revised periodically as scientific understanding of animal welfare requirements advances. Standards should be set by the National Academy of Sciences because.

• The USDA's record keeping, reporting, and inspection requirements are also burdensome. It would cost institutions an additional $80-280 million more per year to meet these requirements for rats, mice, and birds. This would also create burdens for the USDA itself. Furthermore, these administrative requirements do nothing to improve animal welfare. Rather, staff would end up spending more time on paperwork and less time on animal care.
  
  
• USDA is also considering adding a controversial new rule that would impose additional record keeping and reporting requirements concerning pain and distress in research animals. If rats, mice and birds are regulated under the AWA and new pain and distress rules are applied, the resulting bureaucratic tangle will cripple important medical research projects across the country.

Posted October 31, 2000
USDA CAN'T ACT ON RATS/MICE/BIRDS REGULATION FOR ONE YEAR
With President Clinton's signing of the Agriculture appropriations bill, the USDA is now forbidden-through September 2001-from spending any money on efforts to add rats/mice/birds to the Animal Welfare Act definition. This gives us a year's
reprieve-essentially, an extra year to gather data, write letters, pound the Hill, and educate your colleagues. Animal rights activists also have another year to garner support for their cause. More to come!

Posted October 3, 2000
USDA & ARDF REACH OUT-OF-COURT SETTLEMENT
Based on an out-of-court settlement reached with animal rights groups, we expect that the USDA will issue a notice of proposed rulemaking related to covering rats, mice, and birds under the Animal Welfare Act. Once this notice is announced, it will be important for the biomedical research community to make its voice heard. In the rulemaking process, the quantity of letters can be as important as their content.

Posted September 26, 2000
URGENT ACTION ALERT ON REGULATION OF RATS, MICE, BIRDS!!!
USDA is close to reaching a private agreement with animal rights groups that would cover rats & mice under the Animal Welfare Act, adding millions of dollars in costs and resulting in an inordinate regulatory burden that would impede biomedical research. AAA has been very vocal on this issue.

IT'S URGENT THAT YOU TAKE A FEW MINUTES TO PRINT OUT & FAX A LETTER TO USDA!!! PLEASE ALSO FORWARD THIS INFORMATION TO ANYONE ELSE WHO IS DOING ANIMAL RESEARCH, ESPECIALLY ANYONE USING RATS & MICE.

YOU MAY MODIFY THE AAA LETTER BELOW OR DRAFT YOUR OWN BRIEF NOTE. THE CRITICAL INSTRUCTIONS ARE:

1. Let USDA Secretary Glickman know that you oppose settlement of this case without the participation of research representatives.
2. Neither long, nor complicated messages are necessary, but speed is essential.
3. Please fax letters to the Secretary (202-690-2119) as soon as you can before this Friday.
4. Also fax a copy to AAA at 301-634-7965.