The care and welfare of laboratory animals has improved considerably in the past four decades. Regulations decree that cages be clean and runs be provided. Air is filtered, and laminar airflow is maintained where needed. Irritancy is no longer tested on rabbit eyes or guinea pig bellies. Yet some animal activists still carry out terrorist tactics.

An article by Meg Turville-Heitz in the February issue of the Scientific American states that terrorist attacks against medical research personnel have discouraged college students from entering medical and even some physical sciences. The top 12 animal welfare organizations have in aggregate about $153 million in budget money to attack science.Wouldn't it be nice if that money were to be used for environmental purposes, to improve habitat of wild animals and work to prevent their extinction instead of using razors, fires, letter-bombs, etc., to attack that animal species called Homo sapiens?

Stewart C. Harvey

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Salt Lake City

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