Guidelines for animal surgery in research and teaching. AVMA Panel on Animal Surgery in Research and Teaching, and the ASLAP (American Society of Laboratory Animal Practitioners).

The direct or delegated authority for activities involving animals used in research and teaching programs lies with the attending veterinarian. These duties and responsibilities cannot be abrogated by others in the organization. The veterinarian is the single individual with the broadest range of knowledge of animals used in biomedical research, testing, and teaching. Federal regulations and policy require that the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IA-CUC) ensure that the use of animals will be ethically justifiable and humane and that all individuals who perform surgery on animals will be appropriately qualified and trained. The attending veterinarian also has specific responsibilities under law and must take an active role in providing this assurance. In recognition of this, the Council on Research of the AVMA created a Panel on Animal Surgery in Research and Teaching to develop a report on guidelines for performing animal surgery in a research or teaching setting. Drafts of the panel report were sent through an extensive review process that included representative groups in veterinary medicine, human health, government, biomedical research, and animal welfare. The report of the panel was referred to the American Society of Laboratory Animal Practitioners (ASLAP). As an organization, the major focus of which is the role of the veterinarian in research using animals, it is appropriate that the ASLAP further refine this report into a set of guidelines for the research community. The ASLAP committee wishes to acknowledge the AVMA for recognizing the need for these guidelines and providing the financial support to convene the initial panel. This document was compiled with expectations for change in future revisions. Intended to complement other pertinent guidelines and regulations on animal surgery, these guidelines are designed to help individuals charged with the stewardship of animals used in research and teaching.