Recently, several representative veterinarians from the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine (ACLAM), American Society of Laboratory Animal Practitioners (ASLAP), American Association of Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS), and Association of Primate Veterinarians (APV) have come together and formed a new group called the Veterinary Consortium for Research Animal Care and Welfare. The group's mission is to “provide accurate information on the care and use of research animals to inform the public, lawmakers, and the scientific community about the veterinary care and welfare of these animals.”

The group released a 2-page commentary addressing the frequent confusion surrounding the definitions of the following terms: animal research, research animal, laboratory animal, laboratory animal veterinarian, laboratory animal medicine, research veterinarian, and research animal veterinarian. The commentary provides concise definitions and addresses the similarities and differences between the terms.

Read the full commentary here:  https://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/pdf/10.2460/javma.258.3.254