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CCAC Guide to the Care and Use of Experimental Animals
CCAC Guide & guidelines · Canadian Council on Animal Care
Canada’s national standards for the care and use of animals in science, including dogs, against which research institutions are independently assessed.
01 What It Is
The Canadian Council on Animal Care is the national body that sets and oversees the standards for the ethical care and use of animals in Canadian science. Its Guide to the Care and Use of Experimental Animals, together with its series of species and topic guidelines, is the reference standard for animals used in research, teaching and testing, dogs included.
02 What It Covers
The Guide and the guidelines cover the housing, husbandry, health and humane treatment of experimental animals, the work of institutional animal care committees, and the review and justification of procedures. Dogs feature throughout as one of the species held and used under these standards.
03 How It Is Checked
The CCAC does not rely on voluntary adoption alone. It runs an assessment and certification program: institutions are reviewed against its standards by expert panels, and CCAC certification is in practice a condition of public research funding, which gives the guidelines real force without their being law.
04 Why It Matters
For dogs in Canadian laboratories and teaching this is the standard that governs their care and the ethical review of their use. It is Canada’s national counterpart to the accredited and statutory research-animal regimes found elsewhere.
Common Questions
Is it law?
No, but it has real force. CCAC certification is in practice a condition of public research funding, which gives the guidelines force without their being law.
Who sets it?
The Canadian Council on Animal Care, the national body that sets and oversees the standards for the ethical care and use of animals in Canadian science.
What does it cover?
Its Guide and species and topic guidelines cover the housing, husbandry, health and humane treatment of experimental animals, the work of institutional animal care committees, and the review and justification of procedures.
How is it enforced?
Not by voluntary adoption alone: institutions are reviewed against the standards by expert panels and certified, with certification tied in practice to research funding.
Who does it apply to?
Institutions using animals, dogs included, in research, teaching or testing in Canada.
Why does it matter?
For dogs in Canadian laboratories and teaching this is the standard governing their care and the ethical review of their use, Canada’s counterpart to the accredited and statutory regimes elsewhere.