Complete List of AAALAC's Reference Resources

Updated December 2025

Reference Resources List

Resources are categorized into:

• Reference Resources: references that can be utilized during the evaluation of issues that may result in findings during the accreditation assessment.
• Items of Interest: references serve as items of interest or guidance that illustrate good practices.

General

Reference Resource:

• OIE's Terrestrial Animal Health Code Chapter 7.8

Item of Interest:

• CIOMS-ICLAS International Guiding Principles for Biomedical Research Involving Animals

Animal Environment

Reference Resources:

• Guideline for Disinfection and Sterilization in Healthcare Facilities
• Guidelines for Co-Housing Multiple Species of Laboratory Animals

IACUC/OB

Items of Interest:

• Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee Guidebook
• Guidance on the severity classification of scientific procedures involving fish

Humane Endpoints

Reference Resource:

• Humane Endpoints (OECD)

Veterinary Care

Reference Resources:

• ACLAM Position Statement on Adequate Veterinary Care
• ACLAM Position Statement on Medical Records Content and Scope (2020)
• AVMA Guidelines for the Depopulation of Animals: 2019 Edition

Items of Interest:

• ESLAV/ECLAM/LAVA/EVERI recommendations for the roles, responsibilities and training of the laboratory animal veterinarian and the designated veterinarian under Directive 2010/63/EU (European Union)
• Medical Records for Animals Used in Research, Teaching, and Testing

Euthanasia

Reference Resource:

• AVMA Guidelines on Euthanasia
  (Note: At its May 2020 meeting, AAALAC International's Council on Accreditation adopted the "AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals: 2020 Edition" as an AAALAC Reference Resource with two clarifications noted on the first page of the document.)

Health Monitoring

Reference Resource:

• FELASA-AALAS Recommendations for Monitoring and Reporting of Laboratory Fish Diseases

Items of Interest:

• FELASA recommendations for the health monitoring of breeding colonies and experimental units of cats, dogs and pigs
• FELASA recommendations for the health monitoring of breeding colonies and experimental units of calves, sheep and goats
• FELASA recommendations for the health monitoring of mouse, rat, hamster, guinea pig and rabbit colonies in breeding and experimental units
• Revised recommendations for health monitoring of non-human primate colonies (2018): FELASA Working Group Report

Occupational Health and Safety

Reference Resources:

• Occupational Health and Safety in the Care and Use of Research Animals
• Recommendations for Prevention of and Therapy for Exposure to B Virus (Cercopithecine Herpesvirus 1)
• Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (6th edition) 
• DNA Research

Item of Interest:

• Criteria for a recommended standard occupational exposure to waste anesthetic gases and vapors

Biosafety

Reference Resource:

• Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (6th edition)

Biosecurity

Item of Interest:

• FELASA-AALAS Recommendations for Biosecurity in an Aquatic Facility

Disaster Plan

Reference Resource:

• AVMA Guidelines for the Depopulation of Animals: 2019 Edition

Physical Plant

Items of Interest:

• The Handbook of Facilities Planning: Volume 2, Laboratory Animal Facilities (1991)
• Animal Facility Design and Renovation: Things to Consider Before Breaking Ground
• Planning and Designing Research Animal Facilities (Hessler, ACLAM 2008)
• NIH Design Requirements Manual
• Chapter 18 Facility Design, Planning, and Renovation. In Management of Animal Care and Use Programs in Research, Education, and Testing. 2nd edition
• Chapter 3 Facility Planning. In Practical Management of Research Animal Care and Use Programs. Springer. ISBN 978-3-031-65413-8 ISBN 978-3-031-65414-5 (eBook)

Research Related / Refinement

Reference Resources:

• APV Food Restriction Guidelines for Nonhuman Primates in Biomedical Research
• Association of Primate Veterinarians Guidelines for Fluid Regulation of Nonhuman Primates in Biomedical Research
• DNA Research

Items of Interest:

• Administration of Substances and Removal of Blood
• Guidelines for the welfare and use of animals in cancer research
• Neuroscience and Behavioral Research
• OBSERVE: guidelines for the refinement of rodent cancer models

Pain/Distress

Reference Resource:

• ACLAM Position Statement on Pain and Distress in Research Animals

Wildlife Field Studies

Reference Resources:

• 2016 Guidelines of the American Society of Mammalogists
• Guidelines to the Use of Wild Birds in Research

Species Specific

• Amphibians and Reptiles
  • (Reference Resource) Guidelines for the Use of Live Amphibians and Reptiles in Field and Laboratory Research
• Aquatics
  • (Reference Resource) Guidelines for the Care and Welfare of Cephalopods in Research
  • (Reference Resource) Guidelines for the Use of Fishes in Research, Use of Fishes in Research Committee
  • (Item of Interest) CCAC Guidelines on The Care and Use of Fish in Research, Teaching and Testing
  • (Item of Interest) FELASA-AALAS Recommendations for Biosecurity in an Aquatic Facility
  • (Item of Interest) Guidance on the housing and care of Zebrafish (Danio rerio)
  • (Item of Interest) Guidance on the severity classification of scientific procedures involving fish
• Cats
  • (Item of Interest) FELASA recommendations for the health monitoring of breeding colonies and experimental units of cats, dogs and pigs
• Dogs
  • (Item of Interest) FELASA recommendations for the health monitoring of breeding colonies and experimental units of cats, dogs and pigs
• Nonhuman Primates
  • (Reference Resource) APV Food Restriction Guidelines for Nonhuman Primates in Biomedical Research
  • (Reference Resource) Association of Primate Veterinarians Guidelines for Fluid Regulation of Nonhuman Primates in Biomedical Research
  • (Item of Interest) Revised recommendations for health monitoring of non-human primate colonies (2018): FELASA Working Group Report
  • (Item of Interest) The Psychological Well-Being of Nonhuman Primates
• Pigs
  • (Item of Interest) FELASA recommendations for the health monitoring of breeding colonies and experimental units of cats, dogs and pigs
• Rabbits
  • (Item of Interest) FELASA recommendations for the health monitoring of mouse, rat, hamster, guinea pig and rabbit colonies in breeding and experimental units
• Rodents
  • (Item of Interest) FELASA recommendations for the health monitoring of mouse, rat, hamster, guinea pig and rabbit colonies in breeding and experimental units
• Ruminants
  • (Item of Interest) FELASA recommendations for the health monitoring of experimental units of calves, sheep and goats