ABSTRACT
Animal care and use program administrators and managers are responsible for both promoting animal well-being and facilitating the research. However, since animal welfare laws and regulations primarily articulate edicts intended to mitigate harm to animals, it can be difficult to see how an institution's regulatory compliance activities can both protect animal subjects and serve the research enterprise. National and regional laws and regulations pertaining to the use and care of animals in research vary considerably with respect to the compliance responsibilities required of the regulated institutions. Regulatory agencies view compliance oversight as a means to ensure rules are being followed, and institutions often view this as a process to help ensure they remain compliant and therefore avoid trouble with regulatory agencies or the public. Engineering standards are often described in the regulations and specify both the characteristics and technical details required in order to meet the standard.
