JUDGE ORDERS GREATER PROTECTION FOR ANIMALS

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 26, 1993                   TAG: 9302260101
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A10   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short
JUDGE ORDERS GREATER PROTECTION FOR ANIMALS
A federal judge ordered the government Thursday to stiffen its regulations for protecting research animals from abuse, on ground the rules now seem based on "the almighty dollar" rather than the adage that "a dog is a man's best friend."
U.S. District Judge Charles R. Richey called the Agriculture Department's regulations implementing the 1985 Improved Standards for Laboratory Animals Act arbitrary, capricious and contrary to what Congress ordered.
Former Agriculture Secretary Edward Madigan issued the regulations in 1991 in response to the law's demand for new federal standards to provide for the "humane handling, care, treatment and transportation" of dogs and monkeys used in laboratory research.
Ruling in a suit by the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Richey said the regulations failed to establish the "minimum requirements" mandated by Congress for exercising dogs and "promoting the psychological well-being of primates."
Valerie Stanley, an attorney for the Animal Legal Defense Fund, said the regulations as issued in their final form basically left it up to each laboratory to develop its own standards and self-enforce them.
- Associated Press

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB