Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee - History

History

The history of IACUCs evolved from the history of regulation of animal welfare in the USA. Prior to 1963, regulation was conducted solely by investigators, and research laboratories had inconsistent animal care policies and standards of care. A group of veterinarians formed the Animal Care Panel and began work in 1961, and in 1963 they published the first edition of "The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals", referred to hereafter as the Guide. Subsequent editions of the Guide were supported by NIH and published by the Institute of Laboratory Animal Research branch of the National Academy of Science. Currently, the Guide is in its eighth edition.

An accreditation committee was formed in 1963, and it was independently incorporated from the ACP. Its name was AAALAC, the American Association for the Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care. In 1996 this committee changed its name to the "Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International (AAALAC)"

A series of reports on poor animal welfare in the US led to a major article in Life magazine in 1966. Public opinion was particularly galvanized by the case of a pet dog that was stolen from her owners in Pennsylvania and later died during an experimental surgery at a hospital in New York. Thus catalyzed, and spurred by the efforts of Representative Joseph Y. Resnick, Congress created the Animal Welfare Act (1966), which named the USDA the responsible agency. It inspected animal use facilities, but did not inspect or regulate individual laboratories.

In 1971, the Animal Welfare Act was revised, and compliance by institutions could be achieved through an animal care committee or via AAALAC accreditation. Compliance required adhering to the Guide, the Animal Welfare Act, and an additional set of "Principles for the Use of Laboratory Animals." In 1979, PHS policy took over, requiring an animal care committee for each animal-using grantee institution and expanding the species covered to include all vertebrates. The animal care committee was required to have five members with expertise to regulate animal welfare at that institution, including at least one veterinarian.

The term IACUC was formally introduced in 1986 with an amendment to the Animal Welfare Act and corresponding changes in PHS policy. Although much of the animal welfare law comes from the Animal Welfare Act, which is enforced by the USDA, the full set of regulations over IACUCs comes from PHS Policy. Twice-yearly inspections of animal use facilities were mandated. The modern composition of IACUCs was thus established.