Texas Tech Animal Care Program Receives AAALAC Accreditation

By Karin Fritz

Texas Tech's animal care program completed a successful AAALAC-I (Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International) site visit in June.

A site visit occurs every three years. The four-member team looked at all aspects of the animal care and use program at the university. Texas Tech has achieved continuous AAALAC accreditation since 1998.
Overall, the site team called Texas Tech's program excellent and pointed out seven areas specifically that stood out:

• A good training program for IACUC members, which includes conferences.
• The post-approval monitoring program is the best they have ever seen and is most effective.
• The veterinary care is superb and the vets provide talented leadership. Additionally, there was demonstration of a good relationship between the vets and researchers, and the researchers relied on the vets.
• They were impressed with the humane endpoints signs that were posted on the doors in the animal rooms.
• They complimented the availability of paper documents to the site team while visiting.
• They applauded the animal housing and the incredibly knowledgeable staff. Additionally, they were complimentary of the staff's transparent communication with them.
• They were impressed with the card system that was implemented for veterinary care, and the database used.
• The community member's involvement and how engaged he is in the program.
• The impact the therapeutic riding center has on a person's life.

There were no mandatory findings from the site team, but they did offer eight suggestions for improvement. All of these suggestions have already either been resolved or a plan of action has been implemented.

Animal Care Services will receive an official accreditation letter from AAALAC in November.

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Karin Fritz is the IACUC Coordinator at Texas Tech University.