According to Mr. Francione, the seat on users' committees reserved for someone unaffiliated with a research institution is rarely if ever occupied by anyone connected with the cause of animal welfare. The standards that the law requires are highly flexible. If you take them seriously, they can have a profound effect on the way lab animals are treated, but they can basically be a rubber stamp for whatever experimenters want to do. Although most animal rights activists disapprove of any use of animals in laboratory research, representatives of some groups appear to be willing to acquiesce to a standard that separates the frivolous from the serious. The major stumbling block is standards on which both sides can agree.
Most research institutions follow guidelines.
All three also provide on-site veterinary care. The experiments at these facilities, according to spokesmen for each, are analogous to animal research work performed at similar institutions nationwide. The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a private nonprofit research institution, conducts basic research in biology, with an emphasis on cancer. Arthur Brings, the laboratory's Safety Director, describes the major type of research as studies on the generation of antibodies in mice and rabbits. Mr. Brings said there have been no complaints by animal activists about the research at the laboratory or the accessibility of information.