Shelter Animals in Laboratory Experimentation 369 per day, or per week, is physiologically better You just sleep better at night because you think if exercise is good for you, it must be good for the dog.’ (Drinkard 1986) The subsequent gaps in the AWA and regulations have resulted in harm to animals in laboratories For example, a cat or dog can be subject to multiple surgeries if it is of scientific necessity Scientific necessity is not defined and is simply the subjective rationalization of the experimenter The same goes for withholding pain medication if deemed scientifically necessary While the protection to cats and dogs in experimentation laboratories is minimal, the extent of harm to unprotected animals is unknown US State Laws Minnesota was the first state to pass a law requiring pound seizure in 1949 The law allowed licensed research facilities free access to shelter pets for experimentation from publicly funded animal shelters and if the shelter denied access then the shelter would lose funding Minnesota revoked that law in 2012 As of early 2015, there are 19 states that ban pound seizures: California (only bans for abandoned pets), Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania (ban for dogs only) Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia There are 10 states with laws addressing pound seizure that allow the animal shelter discretion in whether they participate in pound seizure: Arizona, California (only allowed for owner-surrendered pets), Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Washington (only for non-owner surrendered dogs), Wisconsin, and Utah And one state, Oklahoma, mandates pound seizure That means that if a dealer or research facility goes to a shelter looking for animals to broker into experimentation, the shelter cannot turn the dealer or facility away and they are allowed to take any animal that is available All other states are without laws that address pound seizure, and thus, are vulnerable A listing of current pound seizure laws in the USA can be found at http://alliephillips.com/wp-content/uploads/ 2010/07/Pound-Seizure-Laws-by-State-Oct-2013.pdf In all US state animal anti-cruelty laws, animal experimentation practices are exempted from punishment Going back to the scenario at the beginning of this chapter, if the abuse of a cat or dog were performed by a citizen, that person should be charged with felony animal cruelty; if committed by an