The regulations of the AWA require that investigators provide Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) with documentation demonstrating that alternatives to procedures that may cause more than momentary pain or distress to the animals have been considered and that activities do not unnecessarily duplicate previous experiments. A thorough literature search regarding alternatives meets this Federal mandate. An alternative is any procedure which results in the reduction in the numbers of animals used, refinement of techniques, or replacement of animals.
The objectives of the workshop are to provide:
- An overview of the AWA and its information requirements;
- A review of the alternatives concept;
- A comprehensive introduction to NAL, AWIC and other organizations;
- Instruction on the use of existing information databases/networks; and
- On-line database searching experience.
This workshop is targeted for principal investigators, members of IACUCs, information providers, administrators of animal use programs, and veterinarians. All participants will receive a resource manual. Each workshop is limited to 20 participants.