The rules require labs to have on hand, ready for inspection, plans that comply with these regulations by August 14. Issued in February by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the regulations represent the culmination of years of bureaucratic tussling and angry exchanges between animal-rights forces and scientists who use animals in research.
The new rules were adopted to comply with amendments to the Animal Welfare Act that were passed by Congress in 1985. U.S. laboratories will have until 1994 to implement all of the physical and procedural changes in their plans.
While much of the new regulations is nonspecific and subject to interpretation by individual laboratories and institutions, the USDA rules provide minimum standards for dogs' exercise areas and the living spaces provided for dogs, cats, and primates (see story on page 6).
Scientists and lab administrators in general say they are pleased that the regulations, revised extensively after ...
