- Animal Welfare Act
Section 13(a)(3)(A) and (B): "The Secretary shall promulgate...requirements...for animal care, treatment, and practices in experimental procedures to ensure that animal pain and distress are minimized...that the principal investigator considers alternatives to any procedure likely to produce pain to or distress in an experimental animal."
Section 13(d): "Each research facility shall provide for the training of scientists, animal technicians, and other personnel...training shall include instruction on (1) the humane practice of animal maintenance and experimentation; (2) research or testing methods that minimize or eliminate the use of animals or limit animal pain or distress." - CFR, Title 9, Chapter 1, Subchapter A - Animal Welfare
Sec. 2.31(d): "In order to approve...activities...the IACUC shall determine that...(i) Procedures involving animals will avoid or minimize discomfort, distress, and pain to the animals; (ii) The principal investigator has considered alternatives to procedures that may cause more than momentary or slight pain or distress to the animals, and has provided a written narrative description of the methods and sources...used to determine that alternatives were not available."
Section 2.32(c): "Training and instruction of personnel must include guidance in...(2) the concept, availability, and use of research or testing methods that limit the use of animals or minimize animal distress." - USDA Animal Care Policies
Policy 11: Painful/Distressful Procedures, March 25, 2011
Policy 12: Consideration of Alternatives to Painful/Distressful Procedures, March 25, 2011 - PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals
Section IV.A.1.g: "The Assurance shall fully describe...a synopsis of training or instruction in the humane practice of animal care and use, as well as training or instruction in research or testing methods that minimize the number of animals required to obtain valid results and minimize animal distress, offered to scientists, animal technicians, and other personnel involved in animal care, treatment, or use."
Section IV.C.1.a: "In order to approve proposed research...the IACUC shall determine that...procedures with animals will avoid or minimize discomfort, distress, and pain to the animals, consistent with sound research design." - Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, 2011, National Academy of Sciences
"[S]cientists and institutions are encouraged to give careful and deliberate thought to the decision to use animals, taking into consideration the contribution that such use will make to new knowledge, ethical concerns, and the availability of alternatives to animal use." (p. 3)
"Refinement and reduction goals should be balanced on a case-by-case basis. Principal investigators are strongly discouraged from advocating animal reuse as a reduction strategy, and reduction should not be a rationale for reusing an animal or animals that have already undergone experimental procedures especially if the well-being of the animals would be compromised." (p. 5)
"The following topics should be considered in the preparation of the protocol by the researcher and its review by the IACUC...availability or appropriateness of the use of less invasive procedures, other species, isolated organ preparation, cell or tissue culture, or computer simulation." (p. 25) - Health Research Extension Act of 1985, Public Law 99-158, Section 495(c)
"The Director of NIH shall require each applicant for a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement involving research on animals which is administered by the National Institutes of Health...to include in its application...
(1) ...assurances satisfactory to the Director, NIH that...(B) scientists, animal technicians, and other personnel involved with animal care, treatment, and use...have available to them instruction or training in the...concept, availability, and use of research or testing methods that limit the use of animals or limit animal distress; and
(2) a statement of the reasons for the use of animals in research to be conducted with funds provided under such grant or contract." - US Government Principles for the Utilization and Care of Vertebrate Animals Used in Testing, Research, and Training, Principles III, IV, and V
III. The animals selected for a procedure should be of an appropriate species and quality and the minimum number required to obtain valid results. Methods such as mathematical models, computer simulation, and in vitro biological systems should be considered.
IV. Proper use of animals, including the avoidance or minimization of discomfort, distress, and pain when consistent with sound scientific practices, is imperative.
V. Procedures with animals that may cause more than momentary or slight pain or distress should be performed with appropriate sedation, analgesia, or anesthesia.
Page Last Updated: December 13, 2013