Who should regulate animal care and research? ARCAS's opinion

Animal welfare activists have gained astonishing momentum in recent years. Basic tenets of their cause are indisputable among animal scientists, yet it is sometimes claimed that animal scientists care only about productivity, labor efficiency and profitability in animal production. Animal welfare organizations and the federal government are in great need of inputs that animal scientists are best qualified to make. Animal scientists should inject themselves into the mainstream of a phenomenon that --with or without them-- soon promises to encroach on their prerogatives as scientists, as well as on commercial production practices. Otherwise, their work will be unduly restricted and regulated by other professions, and their traditionally close relations with the animal industries will be usurped. Furthermore, there is some evidence that these regulations might not be based on the results of sound scientific study. There can be no doubt that animal scientists are becoming entangled in yet another bureaucratic phenomenon, one with the full power of a popular, highly vocal, well-funded movement behind it. The nature of this phenomenon is critically pertinent to the heart of the animal scientist's profession and work. There can be no doubt that the animal industries also are current targets of the animal welfare movement in the United States, just as they are in other countries around the world. The time has come for animal scientists to assert their prerogatives, promote their expertise and practice their talents. The time has come for the animal science profession to lead the animal welfare movement so far as domestic-animal production, research and teaching are concerned.