Currently, there has been growing attention to animal welfare in animal-assisted interventions (AAI). However, there is a lack of scrutiny regarding what steps to take to ensure animal wellbeing during AAI research. The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) reviews, monitors, and approves all research involving animal subjects in order to ensure an animal’s ethical and humane treatment. However, AAI publications rarely report IACUC approval. The purpose of this critical review was to determine the frequency of IACUC approval and to report the descriptions of animal use in AAI research publications. In the 139 articles reviewed, 14 (10%) studies reported attaining IACUC approval; 4/139 (3%) reported an adverse outcome on at least one animal used in the study. The publications inconsistently reported the training or certification and veterinary care of the animals. Lacking IACUC approval in AAI studies indicates that the field underutilizes this method of monitoring animal health and welfare. The IACUC should assess, approve, and monitor research protocols involving animals prior to conducting every study to safeguard AAI animal welfare.

当前，在动物辅助干预措施（AAI）中对动物福利的关注日益增加。但是，对于在AAI研究过程中应采取哪些步骤来确保动物健康的问题，缺乏严格的审查。机构动物护理和使用委员会（IACUC）审查，监控和批准所有涉及动物受试者的研究，以确保动物的伦理和人道待遇。但是，AAI出版物很少报告IACUC批准。这项重要审查的目的是确定IACUC批准的频率，并在AAI研究出版物中报告对动物使用的描述。在审查的139篇文章中，有14篇（10％）的研究报告获得了IACUC的批准；4/139（3％）报告称该研究中使用的至少一只动物有不良后果。出版物不一致地报道了对动物的培训或证明以及兽医护理。IACUC在AAI研究中缺少批准，表明该领域未充分利用这种监测动物健康和福利的方法。在进行每次研究以保护AAI动物福利之前，IACUC应该评估，批准和监视涉及动物的研究方案。