Animal Care Guidelines
Published from www.AAALAC.org on October 27, 2013
What is AAALAC?
AAALAC International is a private, nonprofit organization that promotes the humane treatment of animals in science through voluntary accreditation and assessment programs. AAALAC stands for the “Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care.”
More than 900 companies, universities, hospitals, government agencies and other research institutions in 37 countries have earned AAALAC accreditation, demonstrating their commitment to responsible animal care and use. These institutions volunteer to participate in AAALAC’s program, in addition to complying with the local, state and federal laws that regulate animal research.
Some of the institutions that have earned AAALAC accreditation include the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, The American Red Cross, and the National Institutes of Health.
Why is AAALAC’s role important? For some, animal research is a controversial topic. But like others in the animal welfare arena, AAALAC endorses the use of animals to advance medicine and science when there are no non-animal alternatives, and when it is done in an ethical and humane way.
When animals are used, AAALAC works with institutions and researchers to serve as a bridge between progress and animal well-being. This is done through AAALAC’s voluntary accreditation process in which research programs demonstrate that they meet the minimum standards required by law, and are also going the extra step to achieve excellence in animal care and use.
In this way, AAALAC International is where science and responsible animal care connect.