In 1985, with the passage of the Food Security Act, Congress let it be known that it was deeply concerned about the welfare of animals used in biomedical research, testing and teaching. One of the bills attached to the act, the Improved Standards for Laboratory Animals Act, set much more rigorous husbandry standards, provided for the psychological wellbeing of non-human primates used in research, set standards for the exercise and socialization of research dogs, and required researchers to look for alternatives to the use of animals in experiments that were painful or distressful to the animal subjects. Because of this provision, Congress authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to establish an information service at the National Agricultural Library to provide information pertinent to employee training, to prevent unintended duplication of animal experimentation, to reduce or replace animals used in painful experiments, or on refined methods to minimize pain to animals when no other model can be found. This service is the Animal Welfare Information Center.
As with any regulatory change, there was confusion within the research community over exactly what they were required to do in order to be in compliance with the new regulations. In particular was the requirement that the "principle investigator has considered alternatives to procedures that may cause more than momentary or slight pain or distress to the animals, and has provided a written narrative description of the methods and sources, e.g., the Animal Welfare Information Center, used to determine that alternatives were not available..." This written narrative has been interpreted to mean that a search of the literature for alternatives has been conducted.
It has been AWIC's experience that many people within the regulated community are confused over just what is an "alternative" and what is an effective method of searching the literature to show compliance with the law. To help meet the needs of our patrons and to alleviate some of the uncertainty, the staff of AWIC developed a workshop on "Meeting the Information Requirements of the Animal Welfare Act." Since its inception in late 1991, the workshop has evolved into its present format based upon the feedback we received from earlier participants. The workshop is organized around a view of the law, the "alternatives concept," information and database resources, developing search strategies, and finally, hands-on searching experience using DIALOG.
The workshop is a 2-day discussion/class held at the National Agricultural Library in Beltsville, MD. Because it is important that people have a proper perspective of why the regulations exist, the class begins with an overview of animal protection statutes in the United States and provides a historical background for the development of the current Animal Welfare Act regulations. This easily leads into a general discussion of the various aspects of the Animal Welfare Act with emphasis placed on the information requirements for both investigators and Animal Care and Use Committees. An important part of this discussion is lead by a representative from the USDA's Regulatory Enforcement and Animal Care staff of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
The "alternatives concept" regarding animal use was eloquently described by W.M.S. Russell and R.L. Burch in their 1959 book The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique. As with much classical scientific writing, it took almost 20 years for the scientific community to recognize the profound implications of their work. However, the principles espoused--reduction of animals used in experiments, refined techniques to minimize pain, and replacement with non-animal models where applicable--are the basis for the current alternatives movement within the scientific community. It is also the concept taught in the AWIC workshop.
The remainder of the class is devoted to a comprehensive look at organizational and database resources for information retrieval. Many people are unaware of the scope of electronic resources, such as Medline, EmBase, Biosis Previews, listservs on the Internet, etc., available to assist them in finding information. To that end, our discussion includes a look at more than 30 databases that we have found to be useful sources for possible alternatives. We also look at AWIC, NAL, and other groups that can provide information.
Because searching the literature for alternatives is different from performing a typical scientific literature search, we take a long look at developing search strategies to maximize information retrieval. Finally, the participants are provided with training passwords for Dialog and are given the opportunity to go online and locate information for questions that they bring from their institutions.
The response to the workshop has been overwhelmingly positive. Accordingly, AWIC will be conducting four workshops at the National Agricultural Library during 1995. Classes are scheduled for April 3-4, June 22-23, September 28-29, and December 7-8. Class size is limited to 16 people.
If you would like registration information for the workshop, please contact Ruth Criscio at USDA, AWIC, NAL, 5th Floor, 10301 Baltimore Blvd., Beltsville, MD 20705-2351. Tel: (301) 504-6212 or Fax: (301) 504-7125. Our Internet address is awic@nal.usda.gov
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The Animal Welfare Information Center
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Research Service
National Agricultural Library
10301 Baltimore Ave.
Beltsville, MD 20705-2351
Phone: (301) 504-6212
FAX: (301) 504-7125
E-mail: awic@nal.usda.gov
