Animal Welfare Information Center Newsletter, Winter 1994/1995, Vol. 5 No. 4

Military IACUCs and Animal Protectionists

Related article: "Appointing Animal Protectionists to Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees."

The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) held an oversight hearing on the military's animal research programs in April 1992. As a result of that hearing, the HASC requested that the Department of Defense (DoD) appoint bona fide animal protectionists to military IACUCs (12). The HASC held a follow-up hearing in April 1994, in which the military provided no evidence of having implemented this recommendation. In fact, the DoD Inspector General found that over one-third of the DoD facilities in question had non-affiliated members (NAMs) who were actually affiliated with the institutions, and nearly another third had "definite ties to the research industry" (1).

The HASC is considering its options on this matter. In the meantime, Congressman Robert Torricelli (D-9th-NJ) introduced a bill in the House of Representatives on August 16, 1994, that would legally mandate that military IACUCs include local animal protectionists. The bill, the Animal Experimentation Right to Know Act, is expected to be reintroduced in 1995.

Although Congress is currently limiting its concerns about IACUCs to the military, we think this may change if the broader scientific community continues to exclude animal protectionists from IACUCs.

This article appeared in the Animal Welfare Information Center Newsletter, Volume 5, Number 4, Winter 1994/1995

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