Developing guidelines on the care and use of animals

Area of Science:

• Laboratory animal science
• Research ethics
• Regulatory compliance

Background:

• Laboratory animal care and use are governed by federal and state regulations, funding agency guidelines, institutional policies, and voluntary accreditation programs.
• Regulations often employ a prescriptive "engineering" approach, while guidelines utilize a "performance" approach.
• The performance approach focuses on desired outcomes, allowing flexibility and professional judgment for diverse institutional needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the performance-based approach to developing guidelines for laboratory animal care and use.
• To highlight the benefits of the performance approach, including flexibility and international harmonization.
• To use the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (1996) as a model for this approach.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of existing regulatory and guideline frameworks for laboratory animal care.
• Examination of the principles and application of the "performance" approach versus the "engineering" approach.
• Case study using the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (NRC, 1996) to illustrate the performance model.

Main Results:

• The performance approach allows multiple methods to achieve desired outcomes in animal care.
• This approach relies on professional judgment, accommodating institutional specificities.
• The performance model facilitates international standardization of animal welfare practices.

Conclusions:

• The performance-based approach offers a flexible and effective framework for laboratory animal oversight.
• Adoption of the performance approach can enhance animal welfare and streamline international research collaborations.
• The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals exemplifies a successful implementation of the performance-based model.