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KEY FINDINGS

1. Te three Rsreplacement, refnement, and reduc-tioncontinue to be the core oundation o the Guideor scientifc laboratory animal use. Te three Rs are apractical strategy or researchers to apply when consider-ing experiments that involve the use o laboratory animalsand in designing humane animal research studies.

2. A ramework or an Animal Care and Use Program isprovided to help institutions integrate regulations,policies, and principles with day-to-day operationsand management. Discussion o institutional policiesand responsibilities, personnel and program managementand oversight, occupational health and saety, and animal acility design and manage-ment is provided to help in developing an efective animal care and use program.

3. Te utility o the perormance standards approach or animal care and care prac-tices is rea rmed. Te perormance standards approach describes a desired outcomebut with exibility to those responsible or managing animal care and use in achievingthis outcome.

4. For the frst time, the Guidecontains inormation on the care and use o fsh andother aquatic species, reecting the growing use o these animals in research.

5. Housing space or enclosures should account or animals social needs. Social animalsshould be housed in stable pairs or larger groups o compatible individuals. I there is acompelling reason to house animals singly, it should be or the shortest duration possible.

Tis seventh update to the National Research Councils Guide for the Care and Use of

Laboratory Animalsintegrates recently published data, scientifc principles, and expert

opinion to recommend practices or the humane care and use o animals in research,

testing, and teaching. Te Guideis an internationally accepted primary reerence on

animal care or the scientifc community. Previous editions have served as the basis or

accreditation o institutions worldwide by the Association or Assessment andAccreditation o Laboratory Animal Care International. Also, use o previous editions

has been required or researchers supported by the United States National Institutes o

Health. Additions to this eighth edition o the Guideinclude expanded coverage o the

ethics o laboratory animal use; components o eective Animal Care and Use

Programs; and new guidelines or the housing, environment, and enrichment o

terrestrial and aquatic animals, and or veterinary and clinical care.

Guide for the Care and Use ofLaboratory Animals

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Committee for the Update of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals: Janet C. Garber (Chair),

Garber Consulting; R. Wayne Barbee, Virginia Commonwealth University; Joseph T. Bielitzki, University of

Central Florida; Leigh Ann Clayton, National Aquarium, Baltimore; John C. Donovan, BioResources Consulting;

Coenraad F.N. Hendriksen, Netherlands Vaccine Institute, The Netherlands (until March 2009); Dennis F. Kohn,

Columbia University (retired); Neil S. Lipman, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medical

College; Paul A. Locke, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; The Honorable John Melcher, U.S.

Senate (retired); Fred W. Quimby, Rockefeller University; Patricia V. Turner, University of Guelph, Canada;

Geoffrey A. Wood, University of Guelph, Canada; Hanno Wrbel, Justus Liebig University of Giessen, Germany;

Lida Anestidou (Study Director), National Research Council.

The National Academies appointed the above committee of experts to address the specific task

requested. The members volunteered their time for this activity; their report is peer-reviewed and thefinal product signed off by both the committee members and the National Academies. This report brief

was prepared by the National Research Council based on the committees report.

For more information, contact the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research at (202) 334-2590 or visit http://

nationalacademies.org/ilar. Copies of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animalsare available from the

National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20001; (800) 624-6242; www.nap.edu.

Permission granted to reproduce this brief in its entirety with no additions or alterations.

Permission for images/figures must be obtained from their original source.

2010 The National Academy of Sciences

6. Environmental enrichment can enhance animal well-being, provide sensory and motorstimulation, and promote psychological health. Examples o enrichment include structuraladditions such as perches and visual barriers or monkeys and other nonhuman primates; elevatedshelves or cats and rabbits, and shelters or guineapigs, as well as resources such as novel objects and

oraging devices and nesting material or mice.Like other environmental actors, enrichment mayafect the experimental outcomes and should beappropriately controlled.

7. Te updatedGuideprovides the frst discussiono animal biosecurity practices.Animal biosecu-rity reers to all measures taken to contain, prevent,and eradicate inections that may cause disease orotherwise make laboratory animals unsuitable orresearch. Elements o a successul animal biosecurity program include ensuring that only animals in

good health enter the acility, that materials such as ood do not harbor inectious agents, and thatpractices are in place to limit cross contamination should an inectious agent be introduced. In addi-tion, a comprehensive ongoing evaluation o animals health status is needed.

8. Expanded inormation on topics such as transportation, pain and distress, euthanasia, andveterinary medicine is given.An acceptable veterinary program that ofers a high quality o careand ethical standards is expected, regardless o the number o animals or species being maintained.