On June 2, 2010, the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research (ILAR) of the National Academy of Sciences released the pre-publication version of the 8th edition of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. The last major revision to the Guide was completed in 1996. The Statement of Task for the panel that wrote the new Guide was to update the 1996 version “to reflect new scientific information related to the issues already covered in the Guide, and to add discussion and guidance on new topics of laboratory animal care and use related to contemporary animal research programs.” The panel spent nearly 2 years working on the Guide update including both public hearings and private deliberations.
The Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals requires institutions to hold an Animal Welfare Assurance in order to receive federal funds for research with live vertebrate animals. The PHS Policy requires institutions to use the ILAR Guide as “a basis for developing and implementing an institutional program for activities involving animals.” However, on June 4, NIH’s Office for Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) announced that until the new edition of the Guide is published in its final form, NIH will continue to utilize the 1996 edition. It should be noted that when the 1996 edition was published, there was a one-year phase-in period before the provisions of the new Guide took effect.
The AAALAC Council on Accreditation is currently reviewing the new edition of the Guide. In a statement posted on its website June 30, AAALAC said that “until the AAALAC Board of Trustees ratifies the recommendations from the Council on Accreditation resulting from the Council’s review of the 2010 Guide, the 1996 version of the Guide will continue to be the main standard used by AAALAC to evaluate animal care and use programs.”
OLAW has posted a link to the pdf version of the Guide on its website at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/news.htm#20100616. Click on the letters “pdf” at the end of the announcement to download the file.