The Animal Ethics Committee at Tikrit University (College of Veterinary Medicine) was established as a committee affiliated with the College Council and is responsible for ensuring that guidelines and protocols for the use of animals are adhered to in research, testing, and teaching requirements. Therefore, no faculty member or student may use animals for research (including administering medications, scratching animals, collecting animal tissue, or even euthanizing animals) without prior approval from the Animal Ethics Committee (AEC).

Applicants for an Animal Ethics Approval Certificate must treat the animals under their control with due care and consideration for their welfare and use the animals in a manner that causes them minimal stress and suffering..

The committee is also responsible for monitoring and evaluating the animal care and use protocol, its components, and its implementation by researchers and undergraduate and graduate students. Its responsibilities include inspecting and evaluating experimental sites, reviewing proposed uses of animals in research, testing, or teaching, and establishing a mechanism for receiving and reviewing concerns related to the care and use of animals at the college. The Animal Ethics Committee reviews written requests for the use of animals in research, testing, and teaching and approves their use only if it is satisfied that the use complies with the Animal Welfare Act 1999 and the regulations relating to the acquisition, possession, care, and treatment of animals in a safe research environment. Approval of requests is unanimously approved by all members of the Animal Ethics Committee.

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Summary of instructions for granting a certificate of animal ethics (for scientific experiments on animals carried out within the College of Veterinary Medicine exclusively):

1. The researcher must read the Animal Ethics Guide approved by the College of Veterinary Medicine Council and review the details of conducting scientific experiments on animals and the scientific experiment forms published on the college website under the "About the College - Animal Ethics Committee" tab.
2. The researcher must obtain initial approval from the Animal Ethics Committee before commencing the scientific experiment. If this is not done, the committee reserves the right to refuse to grant the certificate for any reason.
3. The researcher must be from the College of Veterinary Medicine. If the researcher is from outside the college, the scientific experiment must be conducted exclusively in the College of Veterinary Medicine's animal house, after submitting a letter of facilitation addressed to the college's scientific assistant stating the name of the student or researcher, the academic level or academic title, the research title, and the name of the supervisor or co-researchers.
4. The researcher must complete Form A and have it signed by the researcher and supervisor if the researcher is a graduate student, as well as by the scientific assistant in the researcher's original college.
5. Form B, the written undertaking form, must be completed.
6. After obtaining initial approval from the Animal Ethics Committee, the researcher may begin the scientific experiment.
7. After ensuring that the researcher's scientific experiment fully matches the data entered in Form A, the researcher is granted final approval by the committee.
8. Ignorance of these points is no excuse for violator.

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Important Notes:

1. The researcher must inform the Animal Ethics Committee of any changes to the experimental design. Failure to do so may result in the approval being revoked and the researcher's experiment being canceled.
2. The researcher must inform the Animal Ethics Committee of any hazardous chemicals used in the scientific experiment. If hazardous materials are present, Form C must be completed and stamped by the Hazardous Materials Handling Committee at the University Presidency.
3. The Animal Ethics Certificate is valid for three months only. The period may be extended if necessary after submitting a written request to the committee.
4. For any inquiries, the committee should be contacted exclusively via the official email address: animal-ethics@tu.edu.iq