To assist IACUCs and investigators in complying with this portion of the law, Congress established the Animal Welfare Information Center (AWIC) at the National Agriculture Library (NAL). The NAL houses one of the largest collections of veterinary literature in the world and is developing one of the most comprehensive collections of laboratory animal literature. AWIC can be an especially important information resource for investigators who must do literature searches to comply with the information requirements of the AWA in preparation for IACUC protocol review.

Along with other review requirements, according to the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) regulations (9 CFR 2.31 (d)), "the IACUC shall determine that the principal investigator has considered alternatives to procedures that may cause more than slight pain or distress to the animals, and has provided a written narrative of the methods and sources used to determine that alternatives were not available."

Although the regulations seem fairly straight forward with this idea of alternatives, many people are unsure exactly what an alternative is and are confused as to what information is required to show compliance. There are many opportunities to incorporate alternatives into an experimental procedure, however, many IACUCs and scientists mistakenly assume that only non-animal methods satisfy the definition of an alternative.

Animal welfare regulations require, as a minimum, that an investigator perform a search of the literature in an attempt to identify alternatives to painful procedures. AWIC can provide method papers on searching for alternatives. It is important to realize that a multi database approach is necessary, as an alternative procedure or method may come from outside the specific discipline being studied. For example, if you concentrate on mammalian models for studying Parkinson's disease or diabetes, emerging fish models may be overlooked.

It is also important to conduct the literature search on a case by case basis. AWIC staff often are asked by an IACUC to perform a literature search on a painful procedure outside of the context of an experiment. It is impossible to look for alternatives to something as general as thoracotomies in dogs. Some of the questions that need to be addressed are why is the procedure being performed? What is the expected outcome? Is the procedure terminal? Only with complete information can a search be performed, and the IACUC properly evaluate the proposed protocol.

AWIC staff report that oftentimes it is plain to see that the alternatives search is clearly an afterthought, being performed simply to comply with the law. The most common refrain is, "I'm turning in my protocol tomorrow, and I see that I have to have a literature search. Can you fax that to me?" In the true spirit of the law, the alternatives search should be viewed a process that might enhance or improve the research.

To raise awareness, AWIC provides a two-day training workshop called "Meeting the Information Requirements of the Animal Welfare Act." The workshop provides an overview of the AWA looking specifically at the information requirements, federally mandated IACUC functions, and, among other topics, "an overview of the "alternatives concept" and search strategies.

IACUC committees face many challenges in assuring that their institutions are complying with the Animal Welfare Act, and the Animal Welfare Information Center (AWIC) is available to help IACUCs, investigators, and animal support personnel.

For additional information on "alternatives" and other animal-related topics, contact the staff at:

(from John Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing newsletter, Winter 1996)