To the editor:

Given that she is head of the National Association for Biomedical Research, Frankie Trull's professed concern for animal welfare in her interview1 is disingenuous considering her organization's history of campaigning to ensure that rats, mice and birds be excluded from Animal Welfare Act (AWA) protections. The idea that these animals are not worthy of AWA coverage is unscientific and unethical. Rats and mice, in particular, continue to be exposed to such torments as inescapable electric shocks and force-feedings. Are these really what anyone would consider “the most humane conditions”?