The Humane Society of the United States analyzed a year's worth of reports submitted by the top U.S. research institutions and uncovered what we judge to be many experiments that caused pain and distress to animals, but that were apparently not reported as such to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). On January 24, 2002, The HSUS took action: It sent a letter to the 50 institutions that receive the largest amount of U.S. government funding for biomedical research, addressing concerns about under-reporting of pain and distress by those institutions.

The USDA enforces the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), the primary federal law governing the conduct of animal research. U.S.-based research institutions that use animal species covered by the AWA (e.g., dogs, cats, primates, and rabbits) are required to submit an annual report to the USDA, categorizing animal use by whether or not pain and distress were alleviated.

The HSUS believes the apparent under-reporting points to a lack of attention to alleviating pain and distress in research animals overall. Despite public concern about animal suffering in research and the AWA mandate to minimize animal pain and distress, the scientific community is not taking action to aggressively minimize animal suffering in the laboratory. The Pain & Distress Campaign of The HSUS aims to eliminate significant pain and distress in animal research and testing.

For cases in which The HSUS challenged institutions on under-reporting of pain and distress, see the links below.