f6098d8b__and_Use_of_Laboratory_Animals__Comments
[ID] 92 [Entry Date] 04/15/2011 at 12:42:54 PM [Affiliation] Self [Comments] 
Comment 1: I acknowledge that the continuing efforts to ensure adequate attention to animal welfare are commendable. However, the proposed changes requiring increased space for housing mice represents an excessive burden on investigators. The new regulations will substantially increase animal care costs (calculated on a per-cage basis) in a time when NIH budgets and, consequently, grant budgets are being slashed. It is also not at all clear that the proposed changes will improve animal health and increase the humaneness of animals used for research. Comment 2: In addition to the added per cage costs, the additional administrative oversight will also add to research costs by necessitating increases in overhead budgets. While this is negotiated by OMB, the costs come from the increasingly strained NIH budget. This means less money for research and more for bureaucracy--another poor decision.
Listing of Public Comments on Proposed Adoption and Implementation of the Eighth Edition of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals