Sir

A letter to the Editor from Bert van Zutphen (Nature 409, 452; 2001) suggests that there is a difference between the views of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and the European Science Foundation on the issue of laboratory animal welfare. In fact, our positions are quite similar, as demonstrated by the principles for the care and use of animals in research and education adopted by the FASEB Board of Directors in 1994 (see http://www.faseb.org/opar/animal1.html).

Our opposition to proposed changes in the United States' Animal Welfare Act — extending it to cover rats, mice and birds — is not based on a lack of concern for animal welfare. In the United States, the care of most rats, mice and birds in medical research is subject to the Public Health Service policy on humane care or voluntary accreditation by the Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care, International.

What we object to is the additional level of bureaucracy that would divert resources from biomedical research without providing any new benefits for animals.