The use of animals in experiments is not closely regulated by local, state, and federal committees. The Animal Welfare Act pertains mainly to space, shelter, food, water, and cleanliness in laboratories. It does not protect animals in experiments. In fact, the administration of painkillers can be waived if an experimenter feels it might conflict with the experiment. In 1985, the United States General Accounting Office reported that many laboratories were not inspected at all, including 51.7 percent of the labs in California and 48.7 percent of the labs in New York state, homes to the highest number of research facilities. As for local and state anticruelty regulations, I am not aware of even one example when these laws restricted an experimenter in the treatment of an animal in a laboratory.
Some of the best medical schools in the U.S. today offer no animal experimentation laboratories at all. Medical schools at ...