ANIMAL SACRIFICE TO DECLINE IN 21st CENTURY?

The assumption has always been that animals' lives have to be sacrificed to our understanding of medical issues, in everything from drug and cosmetics research to med-school dog labs. The tide is turning, but far too many tests are still being done because of inertia. In Britain, a Member of Parliament has officially urged the Government to reduce the use of animals for medical and scientific research, and at least one new test will accomplish that goal. Meanwhile, stateside, the Urbana-Champaign Senate approved a new dissection policy forcing instructors to provide alternatives to animal dissection in general courses, and giving principled upper-level students "the opportunity to appeal to the department if dissection alternatives are not offered." And just across the border, the USDA, of all agencies, is cracking down on "problems with Northwestern university's tracking and handling of research animals." It's a start. It's a start.