App. H— Glossary of Acronyms and Terms • 425 
Animal: For purposes of this assessment, animal is de- 
fined as any nonhuman member of five classes of 
vertebrates: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, 
and fish. Within this group, two kinds of animals can 
be distinguished, warm-blooded animals (mammals 
and birds) and cold-blooded animals (reptiles, am- 
phibians, and fish). Under this definition, inver- 
tebrates are not considered to be animals. 
Animal Care and Use Committee (ACUC): An institu- 
tional committee that oversees housing and routine 
care of animals. The committee may also review 
research proposals. The committee’s membership 
generally includes the institution’s attending veter- 
inarian, a representative of the institution’s admin- 
istration, users of research animals, and one or more 
nonscientist and lay members. 
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
(APHIS): A branch of USDA that, among other duties, 
is charged with the enforcement of the Animal Wel- 
fare Act. Enforcement of the act is directed through 
four regional offices and is carried out by 286 APHIS 
Veterinary Medical Officers (inspectors) who spend 
about 6 percent of their time inspecting over 1,200 
research facilities (many of which have multiple sites). 
Animal Use: The use of animals for research purposes . 
Three aspects of animal use are dealt with in this 
assessment: in behavioral and biomedical research; 
in testing products for toxicity; and in the education 
of students at all levels. This assessment does not 
cover animal use for food and fiber; animal use to 
obtain biological products; or animal use for sport, 
entertainment, or companionship. 
Animal Welfare Act: This act, passed in 1966 and 
amended in 1970, 1976, and 1985, was originally an 
endeavor to stop traffic in stolen animals that were 
being shipped across State lines and sold to research 
laboratories. Amendments to the act have expanded 
its scope to include housing, feeding, transportation, 
and other aspects of animal care. However, the act 
bars regulation of the conduct of research and test- 
ing by USDA. Animals covered by the act, as cur- 
rently enforced, are dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits, 
guinea pigs, nonhuman primates, and marine mam- 
mals . The Animal Welfare Act is enforced by APHIS . 
Animal Welfare Enforcement Report: Annual re- 
port submitted to Congress by APHIS, based on data 
collected from the Annual Report of Research Facil- 
ity forms. 
Animal Welfare Groups: There are a number of 
groups concerned with animal rights and animal 
welfare— e.g., the ASPCA, FOA, and AFAAR. These 
groups cover a broad spectrum of ethical concerns 
about animal use, they may question the objectives 
as well as the means of research, but they generally 
find common ground in the principle of humane 
treatment of animals. 
Annual Report of Research Facility: This is required 
under the regulations stemming from the Animal 
Welfare Act. Research facilities must submit these 
annual reports, detailing animal use, to APHIS for 
evaluation. (Elementary and secondary schools are 
exempt, as are facilities using exempt species.) APHIS 
presents data collected from these reports to Con- 
gress in its annual Animal Welfare Enforcement 
Report. 
Anticruelty Statutes: Laws passed by States that pro- 
hibit active cruelty, and in some cases passive cru- 
elty (neglect), to animals. Some of these laws acknowl- 
edge the potential application of anticruelty statutes 
to research animals, but most of them exempt "scien- 
tific experiments” entirely. Twenty States and the 
District of Columbia regulate research to some ex- 
tent. Twenty -one States have some provisions in their 
codes requiring the teaching of "kindness” to or the 
“value” of animals, and a few place restrictions on 
animal experimentation in secondary schools. 
Rehavioral Research: Research into the movements 
and sensations by which living things interact with 
their environment, with the purpose of better under- 
standing human behavior. A further goal of behav- 
ioral research is the better understanding of animal 
species of economic or intrinsic interest to humans. 
Behavioral research differs from biomedical research 
in that it is difficult to study behavioral phenomena 
in isolation; therefore continued, but modified, use of 
animals holds most promise for this area of research. 
Biological Model: A surrogate or substitute for a proc- 
ess or organ of interest to an investigator. Animals 
or alternatives can serve as biological models. 
Biological Testing: The repetitive use of a standard 
biological test situation or protocol employing differ- 
ent chemicals or different test parameters. Such test 
protocols are more stereotyped than those used in 
research, and may be more amenable to the institu- 
tion of a computerized data retrieval system. 
Biomedical Research: A branch of research devoted 
to the understanding of life processes and the appli- 
cation of this knowledge to serve humans. A major 
user of animals, biomedical research affects human 
health and the health care industry. It is instrumen- 
tal in the development of medical products such as 
drugs and medical devices, and in the development 
of services such as surgical and diagnostic techniques. 
Biomedical research covers a broad spectrum of dis- 
ciplines, such as anatomy, biochemistry, biology, 
endocrinology, genetics, immunology, nutrition, on- 
cology, and toxicology. 
Carcinogen: An agent or process that significantly in- 
