The Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) and Applied Research Ethics National Association (ARENA) on 12 March 2002 announced the release of the 2nd edition of the ARENA/OLAW Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee Guidebook. The updated 2002 IACUC Guidebook is the product of a joint effort between ARENA and OLAW, led by an Editorial Board and with the assistance of numerous contributing authors from the community. It addresses multiple issues facing IACUCs in their oversight of institutional animal care and use programs, and contains valuable guidance based on the collective judgment and experience of the authors as well as OLAW precedent and interpretation of PHS Policy. The revision of the original guidebook, first published in 1992, is notable because it incorporates more accurate, pertinent, and current information about field studies. 

The Guidebook is not a regulatory document and neither establishes nor reflects a change in PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Following the recommendations of the Guidebook will facilitate implementation of institutional animal care and use programs, but is not required. PHS Policy does require compliance with the ILAR Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and Animal Welfare Act regulations. Printed copies of the Guidebook will be available shortly and one will be mailed to the IACUC Chairperson of each institution holding a PHS Animal Welfare Assurance. To order additional copies send an email to: olaw@od.nih.gov  The Guidebook is also available electronically on the OLAW website via two different connections. This file is large and may take a few minutes to download. The FTP link, ftp://ftp.grants.nih.gov/IACUC/GuideBook.pdf and the HTTP link, http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/GuideBook.pdf connect to identical files. The FTP link provides a faster connection for downloading. If your browser experiences problems with the FTP link, please try the HTTP link.