AN ACCREDITATION PROGRAM FOR THE CARE...LAB ANIMALS

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The American Association for Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) is requesting funding for a five year period to provide partial core support and retain the continuity of its widely accepted program of accreditation of laboratory animal care and use programs. The Association membership is composed of 26 (sponsoring) organizations, all of which are widely recognized scientific societies. Each member organization appoints a representative to the AAALAC Board of Trustees which is the governing body of the organization. The Standard for the accreditation program is the document "Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals," DHHS, (NIH) 85-23. Other reference documents include ILAR species orientated "guidelines" documents and appropriate Government publications. As of April 1, 1986 there were 508 accredited applications. This requested financial support will assist in maintaining the integrity of and in expansion of the program to accommodate additional requests for accreditation which are considered highly desirable by the biomedical scientific community. A major objective is to improve to an optimum level the care and use of laboratory animals in biomedical research. Once this optimum is reached a second major objective is to maintain that level. A third objective is to provided a means to comply with Category I of the Institutional Status requirement of the revised Public Health Service Policy in Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals by Awardee Institutions. The Animal Welfare Act (PL94-279, April 22, 1976 as amended) outlines legal requirements for the proper care and human treatment of laboratory animals. (NIH has established policy that will evaluate their own animal facilities in regard to the maintenance of acceptable standards for the care, use, and treatment of such animal.) NIH Grantees and Contractors must provide evidence of compliance with this policy. One of the methods of providing assurance is accreditation by a recognized laboratory animal accrediting body. AAALAC is a organization widely recognized as a professional laboratory animal accrediting body. AAALAC is in the process of relocating its offices to the Washington, D.C. area and recruiting an Executive Director.