title: Animal Welfare Policy: Implementation in the Context of Wildlife Research--Policy Review and Discussion of Fundamental Issues.
abstract: The use of vertebrate animals in research and education in the United States is subject to a number of regulations, policies, and guidelines under the immediate oversight of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs), which are charged with ensuring the ethical and appropriate use of the animal subjects. In almost all instances, this regulatory and oversight landscape of animal use has been developed around domesticated animals in biomedical research environments. When the research activities involve wild species, especially in their natural habitat rather than a laboratory, oversight personnel and investigators alike struggle with determining what constitutes ethical and appropriate activities. These difficulties stem from fundamental differences in biology between wild and domesticated animals and from the differences in research objectives and methods in wildlife compared with biomedical research. Here we discuss the various policies, regulations, and guidance documents for animal use in the context of wildlife research. We compare the expectations of the various oversight agencies and how these expectations are met when working with wild vertebrates. We make recommendations for how IACUCs can use available resources to ensure that activities involving wild species are conducted in compliance with existing regulations and policies and in ways that are biologically appropriate for these nondomesticated species.
authors.affiliation: Ellen Paul, JD, MS, is Executive Director of the Ornithological Council. Robert S. Sikes, PhD, is Professor of Biology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Chair of the Animal Care and Use Committee, and President-elect of the American Society of Mammalogists. Steven J. Beaupre, PhD, is Professor and Chair in the Department of Biology at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and Past President of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. John C. Wingfield, PhD is Distinguished Professor of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior at the University of California, Davis, and Past Director of the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems of the BIO division of the National Science Foundation.
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.affiliation: Ellen Paul, JD, MS, is Executive Director of the Ornithological Council. Robert S. Sikes, PhD, is Professor of Biology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Chair of the Animal Care and Use Committee, and President-elect of the American Society of Mammalogists. Steven J. Beaupre, PhD, is Professor and Chair in the Department of Biology at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and Past President of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. John C. Wingfield, PhD is Distinguished Professor of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior at the University of California, Davis, and Past Director of the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems of the BIO division of the National Science Foundation.
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Sikes
authors.affiliation: Ellen Paul, JD, MS, is Executive Director of the Ornithological Council. Robert S. Sikes, PhD, is Professor of Biology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Chair of the Animal Care and Use Committee, and President-elect of the American Society of Mammalogists. Steven J. Beaupre, PhD, is Professor and Chair in the Department of Biology at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and Past President of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. John C. Wingfield, PhD is Distinguished Professor of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior at the University of California, Davis, and Past Director of the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems of the BIO division of the National Science Foundation.
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Beaupre
authors.affiliation: Ellen Paul, JD, MS, is Executive Director of the Ornithological Council. Robert S. Sikes, PhD, is Professor of Biology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Chair of the Animal Care and Use Committee, and President-elect of the American Society of Mammalogists. Steven J. Beaupre, PhD, is Professor and Chair in the Department of Biology at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and Past President of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. John C. Wingfield, PhD is Distinguished Professor of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior at the University of California, Davis, and Past Director of the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems of the BIO division of the National Science Foundation.
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Wingfield
mesh_terms: D035661:Animal Care Committees; D032761:Animal Experimentation / Q000941:ethics*; D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000827:Animal Welfare / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006799:Housing, Animal; D014714:Vertebrates
keywords: Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC); animal experimentation; animal oversight; animal welfare; animals; animal care committee; wild; wildlife