AAALAC International Accreditation: Quality Assurance through Peer Evaluation
Kathryn Bayne and *David K. Johnson
AAALAC International; *Nycomed-Amersham, Wayne, PA, USA
AAALAC International's (AAALAC-I) mission is to enhance the quality of research, teaching, and testing by promoting humane, responsible animal care and use. AAALAC-I provides advice and independent assessmentsto participating institutions and accredits those that meet or exceed applicable standards. Maintenance of AAALAC-I accreditation is affirmation of an animal program's accountability and its efforts to promote ethical practices in the care and study of animals. Accreditation encourages a consistent standard for animal programs, while supporting individual scientific needs. AAALAC-I accredits more than 600 animal programs worldwide. Perspectives on this quality assurance program will be provided from a recipient's viewpoint as well as the viewpoint of the AAALAC-I organization: