342 • Alternatives to Animal Use in Research, Testing, and Education 
appeal adverse findings; the rights of investiga- 
tors in this regard, as well as the legal posture of 
the committee (and individual members), are still 
open to question. Other concerns include the com- 
mittee’s ability to monitor current research and 
to establish procedures ensuring that its advice 
is followed. 
There is a paucity of data on operating costs for 
animal care and use committees for several rea- 
sons. Service on committees is part of the general 
responsibilities of salaried faculty or institutional 
officials. Additional overhead costs of office space, 
support staff, and recordkeeping are also often 
factored into general budgets. One cost estimate 
comes from Colorado State University, where the 
animal research committee costs about $24,000 
per year to run, which was 0.43 percent of the 
university’s biomedical research budget (35). In 
smaller institutions, requirements for more active 
committees would likely be a great administrative 
and financial burden, especially with a review proc- 
ess entailing prospective review of all protocols 
submitted for funding. 
The parallel between the institutional review 
boards and IACUCs is the strongest when discuss- 
ing procedural matters. The lessons learned by 
individual institutions in setting up, funding, find- 
ing administrative staff support, and structuring 
IRBs can help IACUCs avoid similar problems. 
Membership 
Much of the debate about the value of animal 
care and use committees has focused on who 
should be on them. One commentator, writing 
about the use of hospital ethics committees to ad- 
vise on decisions about seriously ill newborns, 
maintained (10): 
. . . when it comes to matters of life and death, 
our society prefers procedure to substance. In- 
stead of asking, “What is the right thing to do?” 
we ask, “Who should decide?” The attractiveness 
of such committees probably derives in large 
measure from their potential for transmuting a 
hard question (Who shall live?) into a more tract- 
able one (Who shall sit on the committee?). 
For animal care and use committees, however, the 
question may not be quite so tractable after all. 
Practicing Research Scientists 
Until the recent changes in the PHS policy, which 
now requires a diverse group of individuals on the 
IACUC, many institutional committees consisted 
primarily of practicing research scientists involved 
with animal research. Their contribution to an 
IACUC is important because of their knowledge 
on animal models, research protocols and proce- 
dures, and the use of animals in research. These 
members make sure that the views of the major 
users of animals are represented. At the same time, 
they have a conflict of interest with some of the 
goals of the IACUC since their jobs and livelihood 
are involved with research on animals. Ensuring 
their objectivity, therefore, is important. 
Veterinarians 
Having a veterinarian on the committee is es- 
sential since in many cases that person is respon- 
sible for the institution’s animals. The PHS policy 
requires that each IACUC have one Doctor of 
Veterinary Medicine with training or experience 
in laboratory -animal science and medicine. The 
veterinarian must implement the institution’s ani- 
mal care and use program on a daily basis. The 
role of this person on an IACUC is to be the pro- 
fessional-level link between the committee and the 
daily operation of the institutional program. 
Veterinarians for institutions doing animal re- 
search have come from all fields of veterinary medi- 
cine. In the late 1950s, veterinarians began to enter 
the specialty known as laboratory-animal medi- 
cine. To date, approximately 700 full-time veteri- 
narians are certified in this field (out of a total of 
about 45,000 nationwide). The two organizations 
accrediting practitioners of laboratory -animal 
medicine are the American Society of Laboratory 
Animal Practitioners and the American College of 
Laboratory Animal Medicine. These veterinarians, 
along with any others with experience in labora- 
tory-animal science and medicine, fulfill the PHS 
requirement on IACUC membership. For small in- 
stitutions with only a few projects with animals, 
it can be difficult and costly to obtain a part-time 
laboratory-animal veterinarian as there are so few 
of them. 
