New Legislation: Austria, New Jersey, Ohio

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2006:

Austria no longer allows biomedical research on chimpanzees,
gorillas, bonobos, orangutans, and gibbons, effective on January
1, 2006, unless the studies are in the animals’ own interest. The
last apes actually used in experiments in Austria were retired by
Baxter Laboratories in 2002.

Less popular with animal advocates is a new Viennese
ordinance requiring that dogs born after January 1, 2006 must be
insured to a minimum liability of $864,000.

New Jersey Acting Governor Richard J. Codey in early January
endorsed into law a bill that allows public school students to
“choose an alternative to dissecting, vivisecting, incubating,
capturing or otherwise harming or destroying animals as part of their
course of instruction.” The bill cleared the state assembly 74-3 and
cleared the state senate 36-0. A parallel bill cleared the
Massachusetts legislature with unanimous house support and 35-3
support in the senate in 2004, but was vetoed by Governor Mitt
Romney, lest it inhibit the receipt of funding for biomedical
research. Twelve states now have similar laws, including California
since 1988 and New York since 1993. Massachusetts ranks second in
the U.S. in National Institutes of Health research grant money
received, but California is first, New York third.
Ohio Governor Robert Taft on January 4, 2006 signed into law a bill
that bars the state Dept. of Natural Resources from using hunting and
fishing license fees to fund non-wildlife programs.