The Public Health Service (PHS) is the branch of the federal government that includes the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health (NIH), which funds billions of dollars of animal-based research per year. 

The Health Research Extension Act of 1985 called upon the PHS, acting through the NIH, to establish guidelines and procedures for the proper care and treatment of animals used in biomedical research conducted or supported by PHS.

The agency responded by issuing the PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, which calls for the establishment of an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (an institutional committee that oversees animal care and use) at each institution that receives federal funding for animal research. The Policy applies to the care and use of vertebrate animals. It calls for adherence to the National Research Council's (NRC) Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.

The Guide's stated goal is "to promote the humane care of animals used in biomedical and behavioral research, teaching and testing; the basic objective is to provide information that will enhance animal well-being, the quality of biomedical research, and advancement of biologic knowledge that is relevant to humans or animals." The Guide sets forth standards for animal care in areas such as pain and analgesia use, veterinary care, and behavioral management. 

Oversight of PHS Policy and NRC Guide is the responsibility of the NIH's Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW), which occasionally conducts spot-checks for compliance or follows up on complaints of noncompliance, but unlike the USDA under the AWA, does not conduct regular unannounced inspections. Moreover, the policy guidelines contain sufficient flexibility as to be difficult to enforce.

The PHS Policy and the NRC Guide can be viewed at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/olaw.htm